Beware of Scams. . .

Let us talk phone sacams.  You probably know the one about the IRS.  They call and it is someone speaking with a harsh accent and they tell you they are with the IRS.  They do not say the Internal Revenue Service, which should be your first clue.  Next, the IRS does not call you about anything.  They send certified or registered letters.  They will never call you and ask for money over the phone.   I must say when I got that call many months ago a shiver went down my spine at the sound of "this is the IRS," that is what they want.  They want to scare you into sending them money.  Please, please, never send anyone money or give out your information over the phone.  These people are criminals and are praying on your fear.  If you are not home and they leave a message it is usually a mechanical sounding voice telling you to call a number or they will send the sheriff  to arrest you.  The IRS does not send your county officials to arrest anyone. 
Now they are calling saying they are Windows and they want to connect to your computer.  I am not sure what they expect to accomplish by getting on my computer other than maybe locking it up and holding it for ransom.   I have heard of this being done too.  They could also steal any pertinent financial information from your computer or even your identity.  These folks made a big mistake calling me this morning at 7am, especially since I was woken up at 5am to be told school was cancelled.   I ripped into this guy but good, he did not have a chance to get a word in.  He said hello and that he was from Windows and that was all it took.  I told him it was 7 am and that it was illegal to call before 9 am and that what he was doing was fraud and I was tracing his call.  I never did let him say what he wanted me to do.  I told him plenty of what I was going to do though.   Windows will not call you to assist you with your computer if you have not called them first. 
Please think before you act on such crazy phone calls, if it feels odd it probably is a scam.  If they say they are with your local government check the number, hang up and call the number that you know to be true.  Your local authorities are aware that these scumbags are out there and they would rather you call to confirm than call to file a report that you have been defrauded.   Please tell your friends, especially elderly family that could fall victim to such fraud.

Here is another consumer finance alert. . .

Received a notice yesterday that one of our debit cards may have been compromised.   This is from a different bank than the one I previously posted about.  So that is two cards from two different banks that have been compromised.  One was a Visa the other MasterCard.  The only thing they have in common besides us is that they were both used at Wal Mart.  I will not be using a debit card at Wal Mart again.  There is something fishy going on there.  I reported the previous theft to the sheriffs' department and they have a gentleman that is dedicated to this type of thing only.  He said there have been a rash of this going on here and they are trying to pin down where it is coming from.
Since going through the Dave Ramsey class last year I have seriously cut down where I use my cards so it is really easy to know if it is us or if it is theft.  Dave, I gotta thank you for that.  No credit card debt and do not plan on using them at all again.  These last few weeks of dealing with people stealing our information has really put me on the defense when it comes to who I deal with and what means of payment I use.  We should  really be more careful about who has access to our bank information.  The times are changing and there is an unsavory element out there just waiting for the right moment.

Please be aware. . .

Please be aware of your bank statements and account balances.  I found an unusual amount on my dear hubbys' debit card.  I called the bank because, I was pretty sure it was not him and sure enough it wasn't.  The charge was to a store out of state.  While I was on the phone to the fraud department of my bank whoever has the number tried to us it again in another store, same chain, and same state but down the road in a different town.  The bank was able to block that transaction, thank goodness.  My husband still had his card in his possession so, someone stole the number some how.  He does not use his card online so I am not sure where the breach of the number occurred.
This was a national chain so, I looked their corporate information up and sent them an email to let them know this had happened.  The chain was very cooperative and has been very helpful in getting the security tapes to the County Sheriff.  If I had not been so OCD about checking our balances and checking our accounts this could have been so much worse.  As it stands, we are still out over $200 and it is still under investigation but, they only used it once and not numerous times as I am sure they intended.  
Please keep your eye on your accounts, I don't want anyone to have to go through this.