While fraud and identity theft have been around for years, it’s easier than ever for scammers to gain access to your personal information. While there’s nothing you can do to protect yourself with 100% certainty, there are some precautionary steps that you can take to protect your identity and finances.
In this article, I’ve compiled a [...]

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I’ve talked at length in the past about how your credit score is determined and why it’s important. Aside from paying your bills on time, one of the biggest things you can do to protect your credit score is to keep a close eye on your credit report.
While you’re entitled to one free credit report [...]

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Identity theft is on the rise. According to the FTC, an estimated 8.3 million consumers fall victim to identity theft in the United States each and every year. While simple steps such as placing a fraud alert on your credit record can go along way to protect you against financial identity theft, you have an [...]

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Not long ago, I received a letter stating that my personal data, including at least one old address and my social security number, may have been compromised. Needless to say, this was a bit unnerving. While I have no way of knowing whether or not this information was truly stolen, I have to assume that [...]

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How’s this for conflicting data? Just yesterday I wrote about Bank of America being among the worst “big” banks when it comes to fraudulent incidents per billion dollars on deposit, and yet…

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If you’re interested in opening an online savings account, check this out:
FNBO Direct, Everbank. and ING Direct have all received a four star rating from Bankrate, indicating a high level of solvency and stability. If you’d like to see the complete rundown, please check out my updated list of the safest online banks.
Beyond this, ING [...]

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Awhile back, I noted that we had received a mysterious collections call, and later learned that we had been inadvertently sent to collections by our local Urgent Care facility. Unfortunately, I had used up my free annual credit reports when I first got the call, so when we later learned what was going on, I [...]

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In digging for information on how to deal with a wayward debt collector, I ran across a good bit of information on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Here’s a plain English rundown of the protections that the FDCPA affords if a creditor turns your account over to a third party debt collector…
First off, according [...]

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This is certainly good news to anyone out there that is intent on protecting themselves from identity theft and/or credit fraud:
“Major credit bureaus Experian and Equifax on Thursday joined TransUnion and said they will, this year, let people in all 50 states freeze their credit histories…
The decision by all three bureaus to offer national freezes [...]

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Since I’ve recently written about dealing with found money, I thought I’d go ahead and share some thoughts about what to do if you find yourself on the other side of the situation, having lost your wallet.

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