Posted by Kevin
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Posted by Kevin
Pop singer Courtney Love is accused by American Express of taking out 104 credit cards and charging just over $350,000. Love denies the claim and insists that the charges and the cards are fraudulent.
My question is how does AMEX allow ANYONE to open 104 cards?? I have a tough enough time getting one card with these guys but 104 cards? Come on if you are going to give her this much credit, save the planet and just issue her an AMEX Black Centurion Card.
I am thinking that someone should give her a subscription to Lifelock 
Posted by Kevin
A New York woman was granted a divorce from a con artist who stole her identity, obtained a passport in her name and racked up a heap of dept. The woman who never met her “husband” had used the names of her children as dependents on his Tax forms as deductions.
The whole story is posted here
Posted by Kevin
I got a call yesterday from Macro my real estate agent that we are still waiting on an update from Countrywide about the second mortgage on my downtown property. Aurora Loan services wants the short sale completed by the middle of January but Countrywide has not given any indication about how they are going to handle the second.
I spoke to another accountant who says that I am going to be liable for the 100k in 1099 income that Aurora Loan Services is writing off of their books and that because this is an investment property that there is nothing that the Obama plan can do to help.
The worst part about this is that the mortgage was in my name, my brother was living there, my dad was an investor but at the end of the day I am the one holding the bag. But there has been some good that came from this:
- I no longer have NEW credit card dept (They canceled the cards)
- I am living closer to my means and what I can afford
- I have learned how the system is VERY VERY interconnected…it takes about 65 days after you stop paying your mortgage for everyone to adjust your limits and rates.
- Hire professional help, you may be tempted to do this alone, but honestly unless you know the mortgage industry – there is nothing in your experience that will prepare you for what is to come.
- Get a prescription for some low dose anti-depressants. You will need this to keep focusing on making money and getting yourself out of the hole, rather than spending time thinking about the hole.
- If you SIGN for something, even if it is for a family member plan for the worst – expect that there will be a default.. And if you can swing it cash flow wise then think about it.. If not DON’T even get involved.
I will keep you all updated as the day goes on.
Posted by Kevin
I have been a little absent from this site for a few months trying to deal with some major setbacks. I have a property in the downtown area of San Diego, a two bedroom – one bathroom place that I just can’t afford to keep any more. I put it up for short sale in August and I have been plagued by phone calls and creditors ever since. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining about the calls its their job and I wish I could make it easier on them but they have a process and it just takes a while.
This is my quick summary of what happens when you short sell, I did try a loan modification but they were not interested in taking it to a level that I could afford.
- I made a conscious choice to stop paying the bill.
- I use bill pay, so I notified the bank to stop any withdrawals from the lender. I heard that you have to stop any and all debit attempts, some people just stop it for the exact amount of the payment and find out that the next month the bank withdrew a few cents less and the charge went through. So make sure you stop all debt requests.
- Keep paying you HOA if you have one, they can be vicious and interfere with a short sale.
- Take the money that you should have been paying on your mortgage and transfer it to credit card debt, because at the 60 day late point your credit card companies will get updated and make significant changes to your account. (Not quite sure how the new December laws will impact this but, pay off those revolving debts fast)
- I had three cards with almost $40,000 in availible credit and about $10,000 in outstanding payments due. As soon as they found out about the mortgage late they cut the availible credit down to the amount of the balance and upped the interest rate.
- Also as soon as I make a payment especially on American Express they adjust the availible credit down to match the total I have on the card – basically making the card unusable because as soon as I pay they reduce the credit by that amount.
- The Bank of America card is down to $1000 and the Citibank card was closed.
- Get used to the phone calls, I used to get a call a day asking if I could make a payment. Most people are really polite and want to help, they know that you are not the only person going through this. Its just the phone used to ring all the time.
- I got the phone to stop ringing by having an attorney send them a letter disputing the debt and requested that I be placed on a do not call list. This lasted about 2 months.
- During that time, I got a real estate agent who found a buyer and we started the short sale process. He is on the phone with them ever other week. We have an offer and most of the phone calls have stopped.
- It can take 6 months for the short sale to get approved, I have received the Notice of Default and Notice of Foreclosure. The foreclosure is scheduled for February, the same month that I am supposed to hear if the short sale got approved.
- CREDIT SCORE is shot, last time I looked it was about 420, and I tried calling a credit repair place but then were unable to help.
So right now I am living without paying my mortgage payment and I have basically paid off the credit card expenses. Let me tell you just how badly it sucks, especially because I have a business and I used my personal credit all the time….
Posted by Kevin
This article brought to mind my one of my uncles. He used to be a cop and was involved in investigations like these for more than a decade. Out of the countless conversations we’ve had on the subject of crime (which is a lot, trust me!) one line stands out to me as particularly appropriate: “Crime comes when there is opportunity.”
This article makes me sick! I can’t imagine being this autistic kid and finding out that someone who I thought was my friend had so unscrupulously taken advantage of me. The way it goes, this teen managed to acquire several credit cards and other accounts using his friend’s Social Security number and DOB. He requested two cards for each account – one in his “friend’s” name, and one in his own. He used his own address or PO box for statements and bills and often included the name of his computer consulting business. This went on for a little while and this poor kid racked up $35,000 in debt!
Luckily, someone caught on and tipped off investigators and the teen now faces 24 felony charges including multiple counts of identity theft, false representation, theft of services and credit card fraud. Some of these charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine; others up to 20 years and $100,000.
Like my uncle used to say, “When you play, you pay.”
I am sure that there are a ton of questions, feel free to ask at any point – I am here. Additionally if there is something that I did not explain well, let me know as soon as possible.
Posted by admin
Last month, I happen to click on an email sent to me through my yahoo mail about a big money that a certain bank will transfer to my account. As usual they wanted all of the info like credit card number, bank account number, phone number, etc.
This is “as mentioned in the message ” to expedite the transfer of the said money. Who even looks at these emails any more? But I admit that it’s so tempting – what would I do with a million bucks?
One of the most common methods identity thieves and cybercriminals use to steal personal information is the use of”phishing”. Phishing is a form of social engineering that uses email or instant messages that appear to be from a fmancial institution, government agency, internet based company such as Ebay, or any business that you trust and/or do business with. The intent of the phishing communication is to deceive you into divulging personal informations.
My advice – unless you request the information don’t fill in any form sent to you by “your” bank, your credit union or other financial institution. Also don’t call the 800 number listed on the email – its routed to them and they pretend to be from the bank! The safest thing to do is to go to the actual website of your bank by typing the address in yourself into the address bar and checking to see if its a real email.
Love it.. Be safe out there.
Posted by Kevin
I like the issue of Times Daily .com of June 1, 2009 written by Tom Smith, Senior Staff Writer. Compelling everyone’s awareness to avoid Identity Theft which is at epidemic status according to the Federal Trade Commission.
They say that identity theft was up to 50 percent increase from 2007 to 2008. Not just one or two states, but every state saw an increase of this type of crime.
Federal experts say identity theft starts with the misuse of personal identifying information such as name and Social Security number, credit card numbers or other financial account information.
It was cool to read how some of the thieves obtained the information and there were some good tips to prevent Identity Theft.
http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090601/ARTICLES/906015025/1011/NEWS?Title=Identity-theft-a-growing-problem-
Posted by Kevin
Not like I don’t have my own issues to deal with but I was reading an article about how there may be a huge increase in Identity Theft because of the Bailout.
Most of the article is about how a downturn in the economy causes people to take more chances and resort to crime. And how the “safest” crimes are identity theft. No gun required to steal a few thousand bucks!
I also feel that as Banks and other financial institutions merge these huge systems that the chance for peoples information to get leaked is much higher. Think of all the machines that have sensitive information and the branches that are closing. What exactly happens to this information?
When people get fired and the branches close who keeps our data private?
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/business/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=080309&ptitle=Economic%20Downturn:%20Fears%20Over%20ID%20Theft%20As%20Banks%20Restructure
Posted by Kevin
Check this out, two sisters get arrested for stealing a debit card and using it. They stole the card from a friend. They used it to by gas and food. The total came to less than $400 buck but they are hopefully going to go to jail for this.
It’s crazy to think that even you friends can steal from you.
http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9968213&nav=MXEF
Posted by admin
A woman was sentenced to 12 years in prison after she lieft to the court about having cancer. It was her attempt to get a lighter sentence to her scam in which she ripped off small business owners in an identity theft crime.
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=111279&catid=188