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Protect Yourself from the New Wave of Credit Card Fraud

7:05 am in Homeland Security by Jane in Redondo

With the economy still struggling there is an increased incidence of credit card fraud, but with a new twist:

A thief is using residents’ credit cards, making purchases (usually online where he or she can get away with just giving the card number and expiration date), then getting the items shipped to the residents’ home and taking the items during the day when the UPS guy usually drops off packages. Most people are at work, so they never know what’s happened until the fraudulent charges show up on their credit card statements.

Recently someone stole my credit card and bought a $501 worth of stuff online (I suspect it was in iPad). I didn’t catch this fraudulent charge until more than two weeks later when I checked my accounts online. When I called the merchant, the customer rep told me that she sees this happen all the time: the thief would have the items shipped to the residential address then show up to take those items.

Sometimes of course, the victim gets the items before the thief does! This happened to one of my buddies. In her case, the thief ordered acai supplements and colon cleanse. I guess this was a health-conscious thief who needed his or her bowels cleaned.

In my case and my buddy’s case, we got the fraudulent charges reversed. But it’s not just the issue of getting the charges reversed. The credit card companies don’t suffer – they will get their money back from the merchants who are also victims in these fraudulent schemes. It’s the issue of thieves showing up on your front porch or at your door to take stuff that they bought by stealing your card.

From my past experiences with fraudulent card use, and from speaking with others who have been victims of credit card fraud, here’s the general pattern of how it happens:

- you use your credit card somewhere

- within 24 hours the fraudulent charge shows up

- sometimes the thief will charge a small amount to test it before buying a bigger purchase

- in the past thieves will try to get away with smaller charges that are harder to notice – for example – under $50. Now thieves are bolder or more desperate and will go for the big purchases

In today’s age of everyone using credit cards (I know Dave Ramsey is trying to get us to all stop using credit cards, but I’m going to keep using them because I don’t spend above my means to begin with), here’s how you can protect yourself against credit card fraud.

- Always be on top of your credit card statements and get online access to your accounts. Check your accounts a few times a week.

Although: If you’re online reading this blog you are probably already doing that, and it’s still no good unless you check religiously, which I don’t! This is why:

- Create spending alerts that will email you when there is unusual spending activity or when there is a charge above the amount you designate. American Express cards for example has this feature, so you get an email whenever there is a charge above a certain limit that you specify.

- Use credit cards with small spending limits (nothing over $1500). After my Chase card fell to fraudulent activities twice, I decided to stop using Chase cards (I also took issue with one of their customer reps who said their interest was primarily to get their money back from the merchant, not to investigate the fraud, which rubbed me the wrong way). I opted for a bank issued Visa card with a small limit – mainly the limit of the checking account associated with it that holds a small amount of money.

- Use a card for paying bills and a card for other credit card purchases. In the past I would pay bills and buy stuff with 1 card – it’s a great way to accumulate bonus points to redeem for cash and rewards – but horrible for fraud control. This is because you won’t know where the fraudulent activity may originate when your card is being charged many different ways at different places online and in stores. Now I use different cards for different purposes and if something goes wrong I can quickly close one card without affecting other transactions that are time-sensitive (like paying bills).

- Use CASH in certain places, like restaurants and cafes. This is because both instances of my credit card number being stolen occurred after I went to a restaurant where I’ve never been and got my card swiped there. The fraud occurred literally within 24 hours and I hadn’t used the card anywhere else within that 48 hour period. The other time was a new cafe that had opened, I used my credit card there and twice I used the card, small fraudulent charges happened within 48 hours of my visit. Now, unless I have visited the restaurant before, I would either use only cash or I would watch my credit card activity closely for the next few days.

- Call your credit card companies and get them to reduce your spending limit. I know, most people are trying to do the opposite and get their credit card companies to increase their spending limits! In my case I am interested in minimizing liability overall, so the less money per card, the less damage a credit card thief can do. It makes me nervous when people are carrying around cards with more than ten thousand dollar spending limits. Unless you’re a celebrity, who does that much shopping on a credit card?

(And if you have that huge amount of bills, then you need to use one card only to pay bills and a separate one to make purchases.)

Finally – and this is probably the ultimate – STOP USING CREDIT CARDS! I personally don’t think I can do this entirely, because I use credit cards to track my spending categories and it’s “convenient” (until you become a fraud victim of course) to carrying around cash. I like listening to Dave Ramsey from time to time but am not going to stop using credit cards. I use it the way I would use cash, and I do not leverage – so I am not the average “credit card user” that Ramsey rails on about.

Good Time to Refinance? Not For Jumbo Loans!

10:24 am in Banking in California Southbay, Cost of Living, Living in California Southbay, Moving to California, Real Estate by Jane in Redondo

The feds cutting interest rates can mean only one thing: mortgage lenders are jumping at the opportunity to persuade you to refinance your loan!

There’s just one catch: if you happen to be a responsible and conscientious borrower who locked in a jumbo loan at a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, your rates are probably better than what is being offered right now on the market.

At least, that’s what I’ve found: our jumbo loan 30 year fixed rate is 6.0% and as of today, most of the interest rates for jumbo loans hover in the low 6% but generally above 6.0%. I’ve seen some as high as over 7%! It is the non-jumbo 30 year fixed rate mortgages that have the attractive high 5% rates.

Unless you’ve lived in California for decades or traded “up” a house using the equity of your first house during the housing boom, you’re likely to be paying a jumbo mortgage, which is a loan exceeding $417,000.

Indian Summer Restaurant El Segundo ROCKS

10:53 pm in Food, Restaurants by Jane in Redondo

After my deep disappointment in the last Indian restaurant I visited, my craving for Saag Aloo remained unsatisfied. You know how sometimes a lady has the worst craving for chocolate? Well, I had a craving like that, except for saag aloo!

My husband surprised me over this Memorial Day weekend by bringing home takeout dinner from El Segundo’s Indian Summer Indian Restaurant. He knew how disappointed and upset I felt about our dinner experience at Akbar and he wanted to do something nice for me. He called Indian Summer restaurant in El Segundo and ordered the takeout – they were going to be closed during the time he would go pick it up after work (since most restaurants close after-lunch and reopen dinner time) but they let him pick it up anyway. THEY CARE ABOUT THE CUSTOMER!

He left the takeout in the car when I went to greet him when he came home. When I wasn’t looking, he snuck the food in and arranged it, unopened and securely cellophane wrapped on the kitchen counter. As I came into the kitchen mumbling, “my kingdom for saag aloo!” my husband said, “over there.” At first I didn’t even see the food, I wasn’t expecting any food and therefore my eyes were blinded from actually seeing the takeout. When I finally saw, I was wildly happy (and I am not exaggerating about the “wildly” part).

My husband got 2 orders of saag aloo, 1 order of chicken saag, and 1 order of tandoori chicken – this food was enough for both of us for at least 2 meals – for less than what we paid for a 2-person “dinner” at Akbar Hermosa Beach (and that is not including tip). THE PRICE IS RIGHT!

Here’s how I’d describe the saag aloo experience: it’s as if the spinach and the delicate spices fell deeply in love and they had their passionate first kiss. Yes, I know this is not how food critics normally describe their food experience, but I’m not a food critic. The saag aloo was so good, I had to tell my 5 month old, who was sitting in the swing watching me gesture and talk excitedly about the saag aloo! The chicken saag was tender and juicy and full of flavor and oh-my-gosh I felt as if I was reading a good book the way this chicken saag tasted – I wished it lasted forever. THE FOOD IS DELICIOUSLY AWESOME!

I told my husband he might as well have gotten me a diamond ring, I was so happy with this Indian food. I will definitely order food from Indian Summer again, and I repeatedly reminded my husband how great he is. Thank you, Indian Summer restaurant for a fantastic Indian meal experience and making my weekend!

Here is the address – and tell them you read the raving review on Southbayblogs.com!

Indian Summer, 219 Main Street, El Segundo, CA 90245 (310) 322-7550
www.eatatindiansummer.com

Disclosure: I am not affiliated in any way with Indian Summer restaurant!

California Needs a Fiscal Makeover

3:35 pm in Homeland Security by Jane in Redondo

Well, the time has come. Gas prices are hitting and exceeding $4 a gallon, and even the ARCO stations that are cheaper than others are going to $4 or more per gallon of unleaded plus.

This morning on the radio I heard that Governor Arnold is trying to borrow against the lottery sales for the budget deficit. What happened to him? I thought he was going to fix the state, or at least not put it in a worse situation.

Then I heard that the politicians are calling for higher taxes instead – and proposing to increase it 1% more. Hello! We already pay 8.25% in taxes. If I’m going to start paying 9.25% in taxes I’m going to make plans to move out of this state. It is ridiculous. How does Texas survive with no sales taxes? And why can’t California do the same thing?

2008 Home Price Speculation

6:48 pm in Cost of Living, Current Events, Real Estate by Jane in Redondo

It’s that time of the year again… speculations abound for the coming year’s housing challenges and home prices.

Yahoo News posted Reuters’ report on a record drop in home prices nationwide, predicting that 2008 will continue to see home prices but 2009 may see a rebound. Washington Times looked at who’s to blame in the current housing debacle, comparing this cycle of housing bust with previous busts, and suggesting that “some combination of easy money, loose lending, greed and fraud” turned a housing boom into a bubble. Read the rest of this entry →