Scams with plastic cards

Plastic cards have rooted into our lives very deeply. Sure, this is very convenient and most of us can’t imagine their life without having a plastic card. But, along with that, popularity of banking cards has become a reason for numerous financial scams.

Few days ago there was revealed the greatest plastic card scam in the history of the United States in New York. According to the NYPD fraudsters used client’s banking card information that was received in restaurants, stores etc. in Africa, Asia, Europe and Middle East. Then they made fake cards and used them to make purchases.

Mostly, group of criminals bought Apple products. Items were resold outside the United States. Police say that scammers didn’t have any difficulties when selling items. In total, criminals managed to spend $13 million.

Work pieces for plastic cards were shipped from Russia, Libya, Lebanon and China. In some cases frauds printed fake driving licenses and attached them to cards. NYPD representative described criminals’ imagination and scam schemes as striking.

Investigation lasted for about 2 years. During this time police had to translate numerous records in Russian, Chinese and Arab languages. When searching police withdrew equipment for making fake cards, weapon, $650,000, shoes, watches, Apple devices and many more.     

As you see, there is nothing easier than becoming a victim of a plastic card fraud. You can find millions of complaints about Financial scams in the web. More and more people suffer from criminal activities and lose their money. The worst thing is that criminals invent more sophisticated ways to scam people.

If you are worried about financial scams with plastic cards, tips given below will help you to avoid falling a victim of a crime.

• cash your card only in reliable ATMs. It’s better to use ATMs in well secured places (offices, trade centers banks). Pay attention to how ATM looks like – if something seems suspicious, it’s better to use another device.
• NEVER tell anyone pin-code from your banking card. If someone calls you allegedly from the bank and ask to tell number of your card or pin-code, you should be aware. The first thing you should do is to call the number printed on your card and consult specialists from your bank.
• when filling in banking documents that include providing your banking account number, be very careful and attentive. Don’t provide the whole account number – the last four digits are enough. Otherwise, frauds can use the information you provide.
• when inputting pin-code, cover the keyboard with your hand. This trick is easy, but still very effective – no one will see the digits you enter.
• enable SMS notification service about state of your account. Many banks provide this service for free. SMS notifications will help you to be aware of all transactions and charges. 

Identity Tax Scams in Florida

Florida is a pure heaven on Earth. Shining sun, ocean, palm trees, freedom and absolute joy. Most people come to Florida to rest. But there are some who come to this place to hunt. To hunt for money.

This year there appeared new generation of scammers who prey upon senior citizens. These criminal manage to steal federal tax refunds using identity theft. Unfortunately, it takes taxpayers several month to find out they were scammed. What also makes me sad, is that one can hardly see headlines about scammed taxpayers as this is very popular crime.

Since 2008 about 500,000 taxpayers have become victims if identity tax scams according to the Internal Revenue Service. Fraudsters invented new and more exquisite ways to steal SSN’s, drivers’ licenses and bank accounts.

Melanie Payne, The News-Press reporter said: “Most of those nearly half-million taxpayers found out they were victims when they tried to file their taxes and couldn’t do it electronically; or when weeks passed and they didn’t get their income tax refund; or when, in the summer, a letter came from the IRS telling them they had income they didn’t report on their tax return.”  

Everyone says tax identity theft is a new kind of scam that becomes more and more widespread. And fight against this kind of crime becomes as serious as fight against drug dealing.

According to the information provided by police and IRS, Florida takes the first place in a list of states with frequent identity thefts. The Sunshine State has a great concentration of older citizens who are an easy prey for fraudsters.

Certainly, the IRS can stop refund on fraudulent returns, but the thing is that the crime has to be reported at first. And how can that happen if victims find out that they have been scammed only after several months after the scam? 

Recently, there have appeared many complaints about IRS since the agency deals with identity thefts not as effectively as it should. Consumers think that solving issues takes too long as victims only have to fill out “identity theft form” and wait for response.

In order to avoid becoming a victim of identity tax scams, never give your Social Security number or baking information to anyone. Be extremely careful when making online purchases, and if you feel the store is fraudulent, you’d better avoid dealing with it.

As soon as you provide a thief with your personal information, you may forget about all your money. Having your Social Security Number frauds can easily steal assets from your banking account.

The most interesting thing that quite often identities can be stolen from credit card and medical records. Anyway, identity theft tax scams are very popular today, and you should be careful in order to becoming a victim of thieves.

This type of crime is growing, not decreasing, so you should follow all the precautions to keep your money and identity.