ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion Idenity Theft

In the age of technology, and the advent of ID theft,

Have any of you with/without business's taken any precautions to protecting yourself?

My brother-In-Law is a Landscaper and uses Business checks and his MAC card for purchases from suppliers.

One of the young kids at one of his suppliers took $4,000 from his account after learning of his PIN number. They got him, but it is taking awhile to recover the funds.

I think the best prevention is knowing who you are giving your info out to, and why...

Any one got a horror story?

Dnk........

I refuse to use a debit card. I never write a check in a store and rarely anywhere. In a store I use a credit card or on account. All my other bills, all of them, even my credit cards, mortgage, truck payments, insurance, supply house, etc. are paid by online banking. Online banking is great, you enter them in the computer and they get paid on the day they are due, no check to write, no stamps, nothing to mail. It also helps to forcast your spending and cash needs because you enter the bills as you get them, but they pay the day you want.

I don't really uderstand why anyone would use a debit card or an ATM card to make a purchase. Lots of things can go wrong:
1. You forget you used it and overdraw your account.
2. Someone gets your number and drains your account, taking weeks to get your money back, if at all.
3.The money comes out of your account instantly.

As long as you pay off the account every month and on time, a credit card is much better. You get about 30 days to pay, no interest, and if someone gets your number they will take the charge off immediately.

OK, I got a little off topic, but my basic point is that not using a debit card will reduce your chance for fraud.

Friend here sent 400,000 Francs ( $80,000 then ) via a bank transfer from the UK to France to buy a house. It got 'borrowed' en route by an employee of one the three banks involved. An officer at his local bank admitted this, but it was covered up to avoid bad publicity. Took six weeks to recover it.

I use an Amex card for trans-Channel stuff, internet purchases etc., which I've had for over 15 years. Only ever had one problem, when I lost it and someone used it to buy gasoline. Amex wrote off the debt immediatlely, no hassle, one free phone call. I pay off any use at month-end by automatic direct debit. Don't need a card otherwise, as a cheque, (sorry check!), here is cast-iron. Going overdrawn here is really serious, and results in you getting blacklisted by every other bank in France for years. Boy, you better make sure checks are covered by a positive balance! My wife has a credit card, but only so she can hire cars in the UK when she flies to England without me. Only the driver of a hire car can do the transaction
because of the levels of hire-car theft. Hertz (and everyone else) won't accept associate cards, checks, debit cards, cash, it's got to be the driver's credit card. Sad that the honest majority have to suffer for the criminal minority. Just hope no-one steals my identity, I've grown quite fond of it.

Gladys Cutout (Mrs)