Need Loans - Check it out!

MoneyTips The news seems to be filled with stories about hackers and identity theft these days, and rightly so. According to the 2019 Identity Fraud Study released by Javelin Strategy & Research, there were 14.4 million victims of identity theft in 2018, racking up a total of $15 billion in damages. Let MoneyTips protect your credit and your identity with a free trial . As a victim of identity theft , you can feel completely helpless and violated — not to mention aggravated at the hassles involved in restoring your identity and challenging fraudulent charges. You were already busy before the identity theft occurred, and it can be almost impossible to keep track of all the... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/38kxrFH

MoneyTips To paraphrase the old adage, there are only three absolutes in life: death, taxes, and the rise of scams during tax season. A major tax scam since 2013 involves phone calls by fictional IRS agents that demand immediate payment for alleged tax debts, threatening lawsuits or even jail time to those who refused to comply. The more sophisticated version of this includes spoofing a legitimate IRS phone number to fool caller-ID systems. The callers also have Social Security numbers and enough personal information to convince the taxpayer that the call is legitimate. From October 2013 to September 2018, the Treasury Inspector General's office identified 14,700 confirmed victims, who were swindled out of more than $72 million through this particular scam. Other scammers use a carrot instead of a stick. Another significant scam claimed that consumers had been awarded a governme... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/2OLRvJl

MoneyTips When your identity is stolen, you have so many potential issues to deal with — changing passwords, closing accounts, dealing with fraudulent charges, and placing fraud alerts with the credit reporting agencies — that you may forget about potential tax fraud. Armed with your personal information, identity thieves can file a fraudulent tax return in your name and receive a refund before you realize your information has been compromised. Sometimes taxpayers are unaware of the breach until they have problems filing their taxes. What do you do if you fall victim to tax-related identity theft ? Start by responding to any IRS notice as instructed. Your first hint that there is an issue could be a notice from the IRS asking you to verify your identity because of a suspicious tax return with your Social Security number. Remember that almost all legitimate IRS contact will be through a letter in the ... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/2RXQTSS

MoneyTips Tax filing season is upon us. Soon you will be filing your paperwork and perhaps receiving a nice check — unless thieves file a return in your name first and falsely claim your refund. Unfortunately, if a thief has your Social Security number and other relevant information, tax identity theft is very hard to prevent. Greg McBride, Chief Financial Analyst for Bankrate.com, notes that "somebody could have your Social Security number and they could have been sitting on it for a while... you would have no idea until they go and file a bogus tax return under your Social Security number. You only find out at the point where your legitimate return gets rejected." While recent IRS efforts prevented $2.7 billion fraudulent refunds from being issued from January to September 2019,

MoneyTips Thanks to large-scale hacks such as the Equifax and Yahoo breaches, identity thieves have no shortage of information to use in their criminal pursuits. Is your information among them? "Identity theft can trash your credit score because there's the risk that somebody takes your name, your Social Security number, and your solid credit rating, goes out, applies for a bunch of credit, and then doesn't repay any of it," cautions Bankrate.com Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride. "That can really just destroy what otherwise had been years of hard work on your part to build a solid credit rating." You may not be able to stop all identity theft methods, but you can take common-sense steps to protect your information and limit the likelihood of damage. In honor of Data Privacy Day (January 28), we present 15 preventative actions that you should take. 1. Check Your Accounts Regularly – Frequently review all credit and de... ...

MoneyTips Holiday Debt On the Increase Are your credit cards still smoking from holiday overuse? Based on a recent MagnifyMoney survey , it wouldn't be surprising. Consumers who financed their holiday spending averaged $1,325 in holiday spending debt – a sharp increase from 2018's $1,230, 2017's $1,054 average and 2016's $1,003 average. Increases in wages and consumer confidence are at least partly to blame. Did a personal increase in wages and confidence lead you into a mountain of holiday debt? We've given previous tips on dealing with excessive holiday debt . You've got more debt – so we've got five more tips, for a total of 10. 6. Slice Your Budget Further To pay off holiday debt, you can't sett... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/38a6nZf

MoneyTips Holiday Debt On the Increase Are your credit cards still smoking from holiday overuse? Based on a recent MagnifyMoney survey , it wouldn't be surprising. Consumers who financed their holiday spending averaged $1,325 in holiday spending debt – a sharp increase from 2018's $1,230, 2017's $1,054 average and 2016's $1,003 average. Increases in wages and consumer confidence are at least partly to blame. Did a personal increase in wages and confidence lead you into a mountain of holiday debt? We've given previous tips on dealing with excessive holiday debt . You've got more debt – so we've got five more tips, for a total of 10. 6. Slice Your Budget Further To pay off holiday debt, you can't sett... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/38a6nZf