Wednesday, June 15, 2016 Editorial Note: The editorial content on this page is itunes gift card scam provided or commissioned by any financial institution. We know to send emails from long lost relatives requesting a wire transfer directly to spam. What they really plan to do is get their hands on that small fee and then disappear. Unfortunately, whenever we catch on to a scam, career criminals become more resourceful. The newest way to scam people out of cash is through iTunes gift card. How iTunes Gift Itunes gift card scam Scams Work The reason con artists like to request money wires is it allows you to send money far away. A credit card payment, on the other hand, may be trackable or even reversible. Sending money through iTunes gift card presents the same opportunity as a wire transfer. Once they have the serial number, they either drain the cash on the card or sell the card online. But, if someone calls to demand a tax payment with an iTunes gift card, something is wrong. You get an opportunity to appeal. They will never ask you to pay through iTunes gift card. What to Do If You Get a Request for iTunes Gift Card Crooks are good at what they do. They know the buttons to press to get a victim to fall for the con. Apple has even addressed this problem on the website. Should you receive a request for payment using iTunes Gift Cards outside of iTunes and the App Store, please report it at. When circumstances come up where you need to exchange money for personal or business use, there are better avenues to do so than iTunes gift cards, here are a few: 1. PayPal Signing up for a account is free, but there are some fees for certain transactions. Buying from a merchant with PayPal is always free. Venmo Do you casually exchange money with family and friends. No more getting stuck with the bill. Download and sign up for the account for free. Then add money to your Venmo account balance or link your Venmo account to your bank account, debit or credit card. Data security is always a concern when adding your financial information to any online account. Venmo uses data encryption and secure servers. Sending money with a debit card is free for major banks. Debit card transactions from some smaller banks may have a 3% fee. All payments through credit card cost 3% as well. Credit cards may also incur a fee. Square Cash You can use for personal and business use. You will pay a fee if you have to send money through credit card and that fee is 3%. The processing fee for businesses is 2. Google Wallet works similar to each other system we discussed above. You can download the app for free on your iPhone or Android. To send money, you just need either the email or phone number of whoever the money is going to. Sending and receiving money with Google Wallet is free. Always Report a Scam If you encounter anyone requesting iTunes gift cards for payment, run for the hills. And make sure to report it. Advertiser Disclosure: The products that appear on this site may be from companies from which MagnifyMoney receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. MagnifyMoney does not include all financial institutions or all products offered available in the marketplace. It can affect your credit score and negatively impact your financial health. Dealing with a debt collection agency can be painful. Agencies have a reputation for pushing the boundaries of the law, using aggressive and sometimes illegal tactics, and bending the law to pressure people into making payments. In fact, at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau a government agency that gathers financial services complaintscollection agencies are the. That complaint is often valid. The debt collection market has a high risk of fraud, abuse and simple human error. If your debt has been sent to collections, there are some things you need to know to protect yourself. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about your debt being in collections. Next, take the proper steps to rectify the situation. What does it mean when your debt is in collections. Being late on your debt payments is one thing, but having your debt to go collections is quite another. There are different kinds of debt collectors, including individuals, lawyers and companies that buy debts from other creditors to try to get them paid. When your debt goes into collections, it means that a third party is trying to retrieve what you owe. A debt collector may take certain steps to get you to pay. At this point, most major banks will hire a collection agency to collect the debt. And after a few more itunes gift card scam, the banks will typically sell the debt to a collection agency. When banks sells the debt, they wipes their hands of the relationship. You might receive a letter telling you the debt went to collections and asking for payment to avoid legal action. It is crucial that the letter contains information about your rights. Although you can negotiate most debt collections, you must work out a payment plan or settlement figure to avoid the legal phase. The itunes gift card scam will notify you of the suit and give you an appearance date. Do yourself a favor and show up. If you lose, you may be held responsible for additional expenses, such as attorney fees, collection costs and interest. Further, the debt collector will have additional itunes gift card scam to get back the money you owe, including the or funds in your bank account or place a lien on property you own. When can your debt be sent to collections. You might be wondering when your overdue debt will be sent to collections. Martin Lynch, compliance manager and director of education at Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp. Most credit card accounts will charge-off after six months, for example, but mortgage loan servicers often carry delinquent loan holders longer than that. A debt buyer, however, actually purchases debts from an original creditor or another collector. Impact on your credit bureau A collection item has a big impact on your credit bureau. The higher your score, the more points your score can drop. For example, if you have a 770 credit score, you could see your score drop 40 to 70 points from a single collection item. A collection items stays on your credit report for seven years. Fortunately, this is changing with. In the current model, the only way for a collection item to disappear is to wait seven years from the date it is first reported. So, that means seven years from the date that you become 180 days past due. The only way to have a collection item removed is for the collection agency to remove the debt. This means that you agree an amount to pay, and then the agency will remove the collection item from your account. Some collection agencies will offer this even though they technically are not supposed to do so. The closer you are to seven years, the more likely they are to deal with the debt. You can also dispute the item with the credit bureaus online. If the debt collection agency does not respond with proof of the debt in 30 days, then the item would be removed. After the original creditor places the debt with a third party, the protects consumers, Lynch advised. The letter will provide some basic account details, and it must advise the consumer of their right to seek confirmation of the debt. All consumers should exercise this right. You can also send a cease-and-desist letter to the collector and a prohibition request on calls to your place of employment, according to Lynch. If the violations are much more egregious, rising to the level of harassment, you could bring a suit for considerably more, Lynch advised. Within 30 days of the first collection activity. Tell them that you do not owe the debt and they must cease and desist all collection activity. Collection activity must stop until the agency provides concrete proof that you owe the debt. The more documentation you have, the better. You can dispute the items online atand. It is fast and easy to make a dispute. The burden of proof is now itunes gift card scam the collection agency, and they often will just decline to provide further information. That usually means seven years after you become 180 days past due. This is not the same as the date you opened your account. Sometimes the best option is to just wait for the item to disappear. There is a statute of limitations, which varies by state. After the statute of limitation expires, you are protected from further legal action wage garnishment, etc. In some states, admitting that the debt is yours on the phone is enough itunes gift card scam reset the statute. And, if they do, make sure you defend yourself in court. It will be easy: you just reaffirm the statute of limitations. In addition, complain to thebecause it is against the law for a collector to sue you or threaten to sue you on a time-barred debt. I have provided a written request for you to cease and desist all collection activity. Given that you have not provided adequate proof that I owe this debt obligation, I believe you have further incriminated yourself by making this phone call. At this point, I am going to terminate the conversation, and I hope that you will respect the law and promptly cease and desist from all collection activities, and ensure that negative information is removed from all 3 credit bureau. Lynch outlined the different types below. You can cure your mortgage problem by paying the full amount due, plus interest and fees, to stave off foreclosure. A consumer struggling with high-interest credit card accounts might be able to have their interest rates dropped to the single digits, Lynch said, by working with a nonprofit consumer credit counseling agency. You can find an agency in your state by visiting the website. You also might be able to consolidate out of default, though you should discuss the pros and cons of that option with a counselor. Finally, federal student loan rehabilitation might also be an option, but, again, a conversation with a certified counselor would be in order first. If the debt is older and the relevant has expired or is about toyou must be careful not to revive the statute or waive its protections. Making a payment toward a time-barred debt restarts the statute of limitations, giving the creditor a fresh opportunity to sue, Lynch said. Only a payment can cause an account to be re-aged. Doing so without a payment having been made is a fraudulent attempt by the collector to make you think that the statute of limitations has more time to run, according to Lynch. Keep in mind that bankruptcy can have long-lasting effects on your financial life for years, so use it as a last resort. Send a snail-mail letter and ask the debt collector to stop contacting you. Consider sending certified mail and paying for a return receipt so that you have proof you sent it. Once the collector receives your request, they can contact you only to let you know action is being taken. For example, a lawyer might be filing suit against you. If you have an attorney, the debt collector must communicate only with that person, not you. That said, you must persevere and get it done to avoid further dinging your credit. Vice President Mike Pence cast a critical vote to break a 50-50 tie, giving the Street its first major victory since the Trump administration took office in January. For years, financial companies have included class-action waivers in new contracts offering a consumer financial product or service. The arbitration clauses forced consumers to waive their rights to join class-action lawsuits. When a company includes a mandatory arbitration clause in a contract, it generally means disputes will be handled as individual cases in small claims court or settled outside the court system, through arbitration. A neutral third party — an arbitrator or panel of arbitrators — listens to the arguments and decides on a resolution. Arbitration is said to be. The arbitration rule had sparked a political firestorm in Washington. Jeb Hensarling, D-Texas, introduced a companion measure in the House. Under the Congressional Review Act, Republicans had about 60 legislative days to overturn the rule. In ensuing months, financial institutions and their Republican allies in Congress joined forces, making serious efforts to block the arbitration rule. The Treasury Department on Monday released against the rule. On Tuesday, the White House applauded the move by Senate Republicans.
