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My Thoughts On The TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express

Tom Drake — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

I’ve been trying out the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express since the summer and whether it’s for purchasing clothes, gas or groceries, it is now the rewards credit card I use the most. With no annual fee and a cash-back rebate each year, this card has some great benefits for the rational consumer. In this post, I’d like to recap some of my favourite features of the Card.

Front of The Line

American Express offers Front of The Line, which gives advance ticket access to Cardmembers. I haven’t had the chance to take advantage of this perk, but there have been some very big concerts, musicals and plays to which Amex offers Cardmembers an opportunity to buy tickets in a presale to beat the rush. After many failed attempts at buying decent tickets in the past, I will definitely be looking to see what I can get in advance through Front of The Line.

Insurance Benefits

The TrueEarnings Card has some great insurance benefits as well. What’s impressive is that this card offers benefits equal to many cards that charge an annual fee. There is travel accident insurance for up to $100,000 as well as a purchase protection plan that insures eligible purchases against accidental physical damage and theft. The buyer assurance protection plan will double the manufacturer warranty by as much as one additional year.

Cash-back

The TrueEarnings Card is probably best known for its cash-back rewards, and it’s what attracted me to it since I’m a Costco member and shop inside the store and get gas there every week.

First off, there’s the 1% cash-back on most of your regular purchases. And that’s not just at Costco, the cash-back applies anywhere you use your card. But it gets better for certain purchases. You’ll get 2% cash-back when you fill up on gas and 3% cash-back at eligible restaurants.

Since I first tried the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express, it has been a great tool to help with budgeting, and the cash-back and other perks of the card will keep me using it as my main credit card in the future.

My Thoughts On The TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 9, 2012.

Better Budgeting with a Credit Card

Tom Drake — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:00:00 +0000

So far in my series of posts where I’ve been sharing my thoughts on the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express, I’ve discussed how to choose a rewards credit card so that you get rewarded for money you’re spending already. But something not often touched on with credit cards is how you can use them to help you create a budget and track your spending.

The Importance of Budgeting

Budgeting is important because it helps you ensure all bills are covered and sets limits on your spending, all within the amount of income you bring in. To improve your financial situation, you have to increase your cash flow by spending less than you make.

To budget properly, you need to know where you’re spending your money. This isn’t so easy if you spend mostly cash, though it can be done if you keep a notebook on you or save all receipts.

How to Plan a Budget and Benefit from Rewards

Using a credit card can help you keep track of your spending so that you have a meaningful budget that you can stick to. If you put all your spending on one card, then the statement becomes your monthly spending report. And likely all cards now allow you to login online to review your spending every day. Then, every month, you simply use your paycheque to pay the credit card bill.

But if you’re doing all your spending on a rewards card like the TrueEarnings Card, not only can you track your spending, but you’ll also be earning towards a nice cash back reward at the end of the year. This payment can help fund an annual budget goal like saving into an RRSP or TFSA.

How You Can Use Your Credit Card to Reduce Your Budget

While I’m using my TrueEarnings Card for all my purchases, it will also help me stay within budget since I get up to 2% cash back on gas, 3% on restaurant spending and up to 1% everywhere else, including Costco, where I’m doing most of my spending anyway.

And if you are shopping at Costco quite a bit like I do, reduce your spending budget for the year even more by getting Costco’s Executive Membership and receive another 2% annual rebate on most of your Costco purchases.

A credit card is a tool in your personal finance toolbox. Helping you create a budget and earning rewards are just a couple examples of the benefits when you use it responsibly!

Better Budgeting with a Credit Card originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on November 21, 2011.

Five Lies About Your Credit Report

Tom Drake — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Your credit report is important and because of that, a lot is written about it as well as talked about over dinner or as topics of water cooler conversations. Although some of the advice comes from well meaning people trying to help, misinformation or failing to go to trusted sources could make for some unfortunate surprises if you were to later view your credit score.

“Once I Pay Off the Collection Agency, It Will Leave my Credit Report”

Wouldn’t that be nice? In most cases that’s not true. Once you pay off a debt that was in collections, the best you can hope for is the debt to be listed as “closed” but often it’s listed as “paid collection”.

When an account is listed as a collection, it remains on your credit report for seven years. Once you pay the debt, it is listed as “paid collection” for the remainder of the seven year period. It may be a bit of good news to know that the seven years doesn’t start over. The other bright spot is that an account listed as a “paid collection” is not as bad as an unpaid account that was referred to a collection agent.

“I make my minimum payment. That’s good enough”

Not true. Although paying the minimum balance is certainly better for your credit than not paying at all, those outstanding balances are strikes against you when your score is calculated so paying off the debt in a timely manner is the only way to help your credit score.

“Only errors involving money affect my credit score”

Once again, not true. What if your credit report has a wrong middle initial and the information in your credit report is actually the information of somebody else with a bankruptcy on their report? Fixing errors on your credit report takes a lot of time and if you wait until you try to qualify for a loan, you may have to reapply at a much later date. Check your credit report today.

“I shouldn’t shop online because it’s not secure.”

This one may be true but there are ways to check. Any time you are entering sensitive information in to a website look at the address at the top of your internet browser. If the address begins with “https” the site is secure and you’re safe to shop online. If it only says “http” do not enter any information about you or your credit card.

“Debit cards are as safe as credit cards”

Fraud protection and other safeguards that come with credit cards are quickly being adopted for debit cards but your debit card is a direct line to your bank account where a credit card is not. If somebody steals your credit card information, they may run up a balance but you still have money in your bank account until the problem is resolved. That’s not the case with a debit card. Be careful

Remember…

Don’t believe everything you hear and verify everything, including the information in this article, with a trusted source before you make financial decisions based on it.

Five Lies About Your Credit Report originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on November 14, 2011.

Guide to Choosing a Rewards Credit Card

Tom Drake — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I pointed out why you might as well get rewarded for money you are spending already. But what should you look for in a rewards credit card? Different people prefer different types of rewards, and there’s no shortage of options available. Some offer airline miles, others will let you chose items from a catalogue. I’ve never really bought into these types of rewards though. It’s a bit of a hassle to jump through hoops to book a trip and I don’t really want to build up points to choose an item from a limited selection.

Cash-Back Credit Card Rewards

I would much rather have a credit card that pays me back in cash. Both of my major credit cards give me cash rewards. I can spend the money on things I actually need like groceries and gas, not vacations and kitchen gadgets. Or possibly even better, with the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express that I’ve been trying out for this post series, I can cash the cheque at Costco and really do anything with the money. I can redeem my rebate in January and get cash or goods and services.

How the American Express TrueEarnings Card Can Work For You

So how can the TrueEarnings Card work for you? That depends on what your goals are. Are you trying to pay off debt or save up an emergency fund? Then simply take the annual reward money and use it to get you one step closer to your target. If you do a large portion of your shopping at Costco, then you can easily spend the money in store. Since I’m at Costco every week for some of my grocery shopping, as well as occasional clothing and household purchases and even gas, I’ll likely just spend the money there when I get my first cash-back rebate. But that still helps my bottom line greatly…less of a drain on my monthly spending means I’ll have more money to stock away in my TFSA.

But as I mentioned before, the cash-back rewards are not the only benefit of the TrueEarnings Card. First off, having no annual fee is a must for me. If your credit card has an annual fee, take a good look at what it offers and decide if the cost is worth it. For example, if you’re carrying a balance then it might be worth the annual fee if it’s a low- interest rate card. However, if you’re carrying a balance every month, you’d probably still be better off transferring that balance to a line of credit until you get it all paid off.

Another great way to get the most out of your cash back reward is to take advantage of supplementary cards. My wife has a supplementary card under my account so when she uses it at Costco or anywhere else, we are accumulating a larger cash payout in the new year.

Do you have the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express? What perks have you taken advantage of? How do you use your cash-back rebate?

Guide to Choosing a Rewards Credit Card originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on October 31, 2011.

Get Rewarded for Money you are Spending Already

Tom Drake — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0000

We all have to spend money on groceries, though we try to reduce our grocery budget where we can. Most of us drive a car, and there are only a few ways to save money on gas. While I try not to go very often, we’ll also all end up in a restaurant occasionally. But by using a cash-back rewards card, you can get some of that money back. That’s extra savings on top of all the other steps you have taken to cut your bill on these day-to-day expenses.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I agreed to test drive the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express and let Canadian Finance Blog readers know what I think of it. This time I want to look deeper into the cash-back rewards and how you can benefit by earning money on some regular purchases you’re already making every week.

2% Cash Back on Gas

While most purchases with the card will give up to 1% cash back at the end of the year, gas purchases at eligible stores will have you earning up to 2%. I normally get gas at the Costco gas station since the prices are a little lower, but this 2% reward isn’t limited to just Costco. If you have a gas station you prefer, you’ll also earn up to 2% on your gas purchases there and collect their points at the same time!

3% Cash Back on Restaurants

The upsized cash-back rewards are not only for gas either. You can get 3% cash back at restaurants. So you could use a coupon like many of the Buy One Get One offers in the Entertainment Book or SUTP and then pay with this card to get an additional 3% cash-back coming to you in January, when rebates are issued.

How to Double Dip on Grocery Savings

You can save a lot by shopping in bulk at Costco, but that’s just the start. Not only are there very good regular prices, but I try to take advantage of their weekly coupons to get an even better deal. If you shop there regularly, get the Costco Executive Membership, which gives you 2% back once a year. While the Executive Membership does cost more up front, I use my annual cash back cheque to pay for the membership in full and still have some remaining to put towards that week’s purchase. Linking an Executive Membership to your TrueEarnings American Express can mean a 3% combined reward on your Costco purchases.

We also shop at other grocery stores too. Whether it’s Club Sobeys points, Air Miles or whichever loyalty program your favourite grocery store offers, I can use the TrueEarnings Card and the points card to get the best of both at the till.

You should make the most of your money when you can. By combining some money saving tips with a cash-back rewards card, you’ll spend as little overall as possible on everyday purchases!

Get Rewarded for Money you are Spending Already originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on September 26, 2011.

Allocating Funds to Fight Credit Card Debt

Guest — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 20:00:00 +0000

When individuals are faced with credit card debt, they sometimes get a little creative in coming up with ways to swiftly eliminate this problem. And we always find it a bit ridiculous when people look for various other ways to pay it off rather than using funds from a savings account. While we fully understand the reluctance people have over accessing this money – especially if it’s designated for a specific or important purchase – most of the time it’s arithmetically boneheaded not to use it. The negative stigma of dipping into savings, however, prevents many people from making logical financial decisions when dealing with substantial credit card debt.

Before we take a closer look as to why you should pay off your credit cards with the funds from a savings account, let’s first look at the few places in which you shouldn’t extract money.

First, never pay off your credit card debt with a retirement account such as an RRSP (or Roth IRA in the United States). These funds typically impose penalties for earlier withdrawals, plus withdrawals before maturity can drastically gouge the value of the account in the long term.

Second, while some financial experts say this is a strategy worth considering, we wouldn’t necessarily recommend using a home equity loan to pay off credit cards. By some calculations you could theoretically use the loan proceeds to pay down your debt by trading something like a 20% interest on your credit card(s) for a 6%-7% loan on your home. However, refinancing unsecured debt with secured debt isn’t really a fantastic plan. The overall goal of a personal debt reduction should be to minimize risk and offering your house as collateral against unsecured debt just to save a few points of interest increases the downside risk immensely. To better illustrate this risk, let’s look at worst case scenarios: The worst case scenario in failing to pay off your credit cards is an unfavorable credit rating (and of course the financial consequences of having this negative rating), however, the worst case scenario in defaulting on a home equity loan is losing the home itself. Plus, to a greater degree than defaulting on credit cards, you’re credit score also crumbles as a result. Therefor, we’d always risk defaulting on plastic before defaulting on your home – even if interest rate exchange is tempting.

Paying off Credit Cards with Savings:

This should be your go-to move in today’s economic climate. The annual percentage yield provided on a savings account NEVER warrants a decision to keep it locked in rather than using it to eliminate debt. Especially today when typical money market accounts aren’t even able to churn out a 1.0% return, keeping money stashed in these financial vehicles isn’t practical when your credit card debt is accumulating at a rate of 18% annually.

Allocating Funds to Fight Credit Card Debt originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on September 24, 2011.

How Credit Cards May Be Obsolete in 5 Years

Guest — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:00:00 +0000

One technology that could affect how many financial transactions are done, is the “digital wallet”. Some experts believe that monetary transactions will move completely away from paper currency or credit card payments in the next 5 years. They think that mobile phones with NFC (near-field communications) will completely take their place due to their ease of use. These phones will allow money to change hands by simply swiping our phones next to an NFC receiver. NFC chips allow for the exchange of money (or information) wirelessly, when 2 these devices are brought near each other. This new system of payment may change many aspects of finance, because it may not be centered around credit.

So, in what ways will this change how our credit history is created, how fraud is done, and how our credit scores are calculated?

Changes to The Credit System

How technology will change our financial system is difficult to answer at the moment. All of the major credit card companies are investing heavily into mobile transactions, but new players like Google or Paypal are big names that may treat these payments differently than traditional credit cards. They may decide to deduct fees for every transaction (like paypal currently does) or use a monthly fee, rather than setting up a credit system. These systems will also be open to EVERYONE, without an application. Since no credit is being used, people with bad or no credit will be able to use them.

One important thing that these mobile payments will change, is how our credit scores are calculated. A mobile payment system may operate differently than traditional credit cards. Credit scoring companies like FICO will have to change how they calculate credit scores. Responsible use of a credit card requires a different set of skills than a debit system. The ability to spend beyond what is in our bank accounts, makes them difficult to handle for certain people. How people deal with credit can provide proof of how responsible they are with money. If most consumers switch to a system that deducts money from an account or takes fees from each transactions, the credit scoring system will have to change. A credit score will have to be created from different metrics like rent, mobile phone contracts, and utilities. Currently, “alternative credit scoring” companies like PBRC use this data, but FICO hasn’t yet incorporated it into their algorithm.

New Opportunities for Fraud

Unfortunately, with any new type of technology, there will be the ability of certain people to exploit it. With Near Field Communications chips, fraudsters may be able to steal money by interacting with these NFC chips without a person’s knowledge. Hackers have been dominating the news lately and may see a “digital wallet” as a new target. Security holes are a huge problem for these new systems and must be ironed out before these systems go live.

In Europe, these mobile payment systems are being tested right now. They are starting out by limiting all transactions to £15 or less. This will allow these systems to be used only on low dollar items. This gives them the opportunity to fix most of the bugs before it goes into wider use.

Already Being Used Overseas

A different kind of mobile payment system is already used in developing areas like China and Africa. These mobile systems are used as an alternative to credit cards in these countries. Payments from a mobile phone allow small transactions to take place using a monthly bill. They allow a convenient way to transfer money, that is very similar to how a credit card works. Some experts believe that these type of transactions will “reach more than $600B globally by 2013″.

Credit scoring companies will forced to adapt when consumers use completely new ways to exchange money. Our credit system, bank accounts, and how we transfer money from one place will change as new technologies come online. It is important to stay on top of what metrics these credit scoring companies use, so we can keep our financial histories in good shape.

Author Bio: Ross runs the site GreatCreditScore.org which focuses on personal finance, credit, and staying out of debt. He also plans to document his experiences with the stock and bond markets.

How Credit Cards May Be Obsolete in 5 Years originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on September 23, 2011.

Stay At Home Parents: Maintain Your Credit History

Robb Engen — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:00:07 +0000

Most single income families will typically merge their finances together in order to make things easier to manage. After all, when you live on one pay-cheque it doesn’t make much sense to have multiple accounts open under both parents’ names.

But you might want to think twice before closing all of your stay at home parents’ accounts. It’s a good idea to continue building credit history for a stay at home parent, even if you decide early on that your spouse will likely never return to the work force. Here are three tips to maintain credit history for stay at home parents.

Keep One Credit Card In Your Name

Before you got married and had kids, you probably had at least one or more credit cards in your own name. Keep one. Even if you prefer to use a different credit card for the majority of your household spending, keeping one credit card in your name will help continue to build your credit history.

My wife still has a credit card in her name from before we got married and we have set it up to pay for a small monthly subscription in order to keep the account active. Just remember to pay off the balance each month.

It’s a lot easier to keep one existing credit card account active under your name than to cancel all of your cards and then try to re-apply for one down the road when you have no income.

Consider a Separate Bank Account

Single income families are more likely to combine finances and move to a joint bank account. When my wife stopped working we closed her chequing account and opened a joint account to make things easier to manage with one income. We were also paying bank fees at the time, so it made sense to merge our accounts into one.

Even though we’ve been using a joint account for a few years I can definitely see the merits of having separate bank accounts. Just because your spouse isn’t working, doesn’t mean he or she doesn’t deserve to have some money of their own. Open up a no fee bank account in your name so that you can have your own spending money without feeling like you have to ask for a cash allowance every month.

Besides, sometimes life throws a curve-ball our way and in the event of a divorce, illness or death you need to be prepared to deal with your finances even if you’re not accustomed to it. Having your own bank account will at least give you some financial independence and allow you to pay your bills and access cash if you need it.

Continue Building Your Credit Rating

In addition to keeping one credit card in your name, stay at home parents should look at other ways to build their credit rating. In my wife’s case, she also has a cell phone account under her name.

In order to raise your credit score, you need to make sure that you pay your bills on time. The longer your history of on time payments, the better your credit rating will be. One missed payment can hurt your score if you aren’t careful. So if your working spouse pays all of the bills, make sure they don’t forget about the accounts under your name.

For a stay at home parent, maintaining your credit history may seem like an afterthought, but it is important. Consider this the next time you apply jointly for a mortgage or a car loan. And should your spouse pass away, their credit history will go with them and you’ll no longer be able to get by on their good credit alone.

Keep these tips in mind when deciding if you’ll have one parent stay at home with your kids.

Stay At Home Parents: Maintain Your Credit History originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on September 20, 2011.

Helping Your Budget With The TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express

Tom Drake — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0000

I prefer to use credit cards rather than a debit card or cash for a couple reasons. First off, it keeps my spending a little more organized. I can use one card for all my spending and then pay off the entire balance once a month. But another big bonus of using a credit card for all my day-to-day purchases is that I can take advantage of rewards programs. I’m spending the money anyways, might as well get something extra for it!

I’ve also written previously of my love for shopping at Costco, where I have an Executive Membership that pays for itself with weekly grocery and gas purchases, as well as everything from tires to wedding rings. However, they don’t accept any credit cards other than American Express.

So I was quite happy when I was asked to try out the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express. The TrueEarnings Card has a few things I like, including up to 1% cash back on everyday purchases. Perhaps the best part (and a must for me) is that there is no annual fee.

Another nice thing that I liked about this card was the included travel accident insurance and a buyer assurance protection plan that doubles a manufacturer’s warranty up to one additional year. You might not appreciate the true value of these perks until you need them; either one could save you a lot of money depending on the situation. These kind of extra features are often found in cards with annual fees, not any of the other no fee cards that I have.

But the best feature of this card is ultimately the cash back rewards. And you don’t need to spend that cheque at Costco either; you can cash is out and take the cash. Because of this, you could use the money for an annual RRSP contribution or to make a lump sum payment on your mortgage. While you don’t want to spend unnecessarily just for the rewards, responsibly using a cash back card like this is a great way to earn extra money on purchases you are already making.

I’ll be sharing some more details about the TrueEarnings Card in the coming months as I get a chance to use it some more!

Helping Your Budget With The TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on September 7, 2011.

How To Protect Yourself From Credit Card Related Cyber Crimes

Guest — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Internet fraud and identity theft are becoming much more highly sophisticated crimes of which we just cannot overlook any longer. Precautions must now be taken to prevent this wrongdoing from happening to us – and there are numerous methods you can take to protect yourself. Identity theft is described as the illegal use of your name, social insurance number, date of birth, credit card or any other personal identifying information, used without your approval or knowledge, to commit financial fraud in an attempt at ‘cloning’ you for the purpose of obtaining credit cards, loans, checks and other measures that allow the thief to go on a spending spree in your name.

This crime affected approximately 11.1 million people in the U.S., in 2009, and is increasing every year, in numbers much too high discount. It is also becoming extremely difficult to remedy this situation should you be targeted and unfortunately, it packs quite a punch to your wallet, among many other facets of your life. If the crime is not detected early enough, it could take months or even years to clean up the damage done. Estimations vary – but the latest costs involved in identity theft, or identity fraud, states these infractions have cost consumers, in the US alone, around $54 billion in 2009.

Credit card fraud is at the top of the list. Once the thieves get your personal information, they open credit cards with high limits, and before detected, can rack up quite the bill. A high number of these ‘thefts’ were initiated online, and it is not only credit card related – cell phones, auto purchases, and loans are up there on the list.

I’m not sure about you, but frustration and the feeling of personal violation are the emotions I feel related to this crime. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have someone running around, using your name and spending money, which unfortunately in the short term, is your responsibility, until proven otherwise.

A recent movie titled, The Michelle Brown Story (aired on Lifetime Channel) and based on a true story, depicted a young woman, Michelle Brown, whose identity, and worse, were stolen from her. Michelle was in the process of purchasing her first home and the loan documents required to close escrow were confiscated. So, along with her identity, credit cards, drivers license and social security number, the thief also had access to her checking and saving accounts – using thousands of dollars of cash to purchase items such as a new car and expensive clothing, etc. The criminal also became obsessed with her, wanting to become her, which caused Michelle much more difficulty than the average fraud. She (Michelle) had a very difficult time proving her own identity again, and in clearing her name. She also lost the purchase of her new home due to credit indiscretions, loss of funds from her account for the down payment, and many other problems related to this crime. The movie was based on a true story and if it doesn’t prompt you to take extra precautions to avoid this sort of thing from happening to you, I don’t know what will!

The problems these criminals create for victims are seriously harmful to credit ratings, your livelihood and the quality of your everyday life – not to mention massive expense in research and reporting, etc., and also time consuming to prove and remedy. To keep identity theft of your information from happening or to attempt to catch it early, follow these basic rules:

The first and foremost is keeping a close eye on your bank account regularly, at least daily. Consider using Mint to keep track of all your accounts in one place. Banks may also have fraud warnings you can attach to your account by request. My bank recently put a stop on my debit card for unusual activity, which was inconvenient because I was trying to make a purchase which was declined – and required a phone call to clear up, however they noticed a few charges that were irregular to my usual spending habits – and stopped all activity until I called and verified that the charges were legitimate. Banks are very good about watching unusual activity, and notifying you at once.

Also, credit card companies offer this option as well, called identity theft protection, or fraud detector – when you sign up for credit cards, or even for the ones you already have, be sure you opt for the ‘credit card fraud’ alert offered. And review your credit card statements, very regularly.

Your credit report is also a great indicator, although a bit slower than the other methods, but it will disclose all information that isn’t credit card or debit card related. There are many quick and immediate reporting agencies out there, namely Free Credit Report that can keep you updated on your credit report.

Internet scams and viruses are designed for accessing your personal information. Trojans get access to your information via emails, and if you open the infected email, the virus actually waits for you to access your bank account information and relays that information to the hacker that instigated this virus.

Worms are another method of Internet fraud, doing exactly what the name implies, worming itself onto your computer and turning off security software so that the hacker can access your information.

Several others exist that you should be aware – scams looking like friends in an effort to get you to turn over information to them – viruses that infect your files and can corrupt your hard drive which come from internet downloads and email. Phishing is also a difficult detection as this is the act of sending an email that resembles a bank (or other online merchant that you may use) email, asking you to log in by clicking a link attached to the email…. Once you click, the hacker has your personal info.

Remember – NEVER give your any of your private information to anyone in an email or online. My policy is just to make the call – do it over the phone if applying for credit or paying for something. It is just too risky and you can never be sure who is watching or how safe that site’s security is.

Unfortunately, this crime is only going to get worse before it gets better so it takes being highly aware, and never, ever clicking on links in your inbox or on the Internet that you have the slightest doubt is legitimate. Even if they come from friends! Many of my friends have been hacked into lately, and the hacker uses the friends email address to try to get you to click on the link that is attached. Don’t do it. It is much, much easier to avoid having your identity stolen, than to fix it after it happens.

By all means, if you haven’t already – purchase a high quality security suite such as Norton or McAfee and updated it regularly. Hackers can find their way around them so quickly that you must install the updates as soon as they are available. There are also some great free options like Microsoft Security Essentials, Avast! and AVG.

Author Bio: Ally is part of the team that manages Home Loan Finder, a free home loan rates service in Australia. Before joining HLF, she was a Media Planner with McCann Worldgroup Philippines, Inc., with award-winning executions, including the Levi’s 501 “Live Unbuttoned” global campaign.

How To Protect Yourself From Credit Card Related Cyber Crimes originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on March 24, 2011.