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. 

5 modern financial scams

Excessive greediness and scams made many companies bankrupt. Frauds are not tired of scamming honest and naive people; some criminal even manage to fool worlds’ financial establishment. Although, in most cases the result of scams is a jail. In this article I’m going to tell you about the most scandalous scams and remind that anyone of us can get into a financial trap.

1. French fraud Christophe Rocancourt, who pretended to be a member of Rockefeller family and Bill Clinton’s friend, arranged several scams that brought him $40 million. He deluded American moneybags introducing himself as a well-known financier or film producer and swindled money of them. In 2000 Christophe was arrested, but he managed to escape to Canada. In March of 2002 Canadian government extradited the fugitive to the United States. At the court he was pleaded of charges of bribery, theft, smuggling, fraud, grand larceny and perjury.

2. Société Générale Bank trader Gerome Kerviel started secretly trading in 2005. According to various sources, the French controlled 50 billion Euro. During that period Gerome caused to bank $8 billion damage. Kerviel himself stated that he started trading to achieve great results, show them to the boss and get bonuses. But, actually, he just wanted to steal that money. At the court Kerviel was pleaded of charges of fraud and breach of trust.

3. Everyone knows the name of Bernard Madoff. “Forbes” calls him the robber of the century. Madoff Securities Company founded over 40 years ago brought profit to its clients. But, in the end, the company that appeared to be a financial pyramid lost $50 billion. The list of Madoff’s victims includes many American and international banks and funds such as BNP Paribas, HSBC, Nomura Holdings and even Steven Spielberg.

4. One of the most scandalous scams in the history of the USA was organized by Bernard Ebbers, head of the WorldCom Company. Ebbers did his best to expand his business. In the beginning of the 90’s his company made more than 60 takeovers.

Problems appeared in 2000 when Ebbers had debts and started selling his property. After WorldCom stopped company takeovers, it just got bankrupt. Ebebrs couldn’t save the company, and in 2002 he resigned. Afterwards, his financial machinations were revealed.

Some time later Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in jail.  

5. Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Schwartz were top-managers of Bermuda company Tyco Industrial. These two men managed to turn the company into international conglomerate. But their scandalous fame Kozlowski and his partner got thank to excessive expenses. With the help of his financial director Shwartz, Kozlowski spent about $600 million. Everyone was envy when looking at these guys: they threw parties on islands, bought exclusive clothes and jewelries in fashionable boutiques. Moreover, they men spent money of the company to buy paintings of the world-known painters.

The real lie of the land was revealed when companions started getting rid of their stocks. Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Schwartz were sentenced to 25 years in jail.