Education secretary Michael Gove’s call for a new royal yacht to mark the queen’s diamond jubilee is grotesque (Give Queen a new royal yacht for the jubilee says minister, 16 January). It’s impossible to believe that Gove could think people would support such a move, let alone see a £60m price tag as money well spent, in the midst of the economic crisis.
Monday’s Guardian was packed with examples of just how broken Britain is. Amelia Gentleman’s article (Below the breadline: the harsh reality of life on Liverpool’s workless estates, 16 January) on mass unemployment in Liverpool, the city top Tories wanted to abandon to its fate in the 80s, showed the poverty and despair that the government’s cuts are causing.
With Christmas now behind us and many consumers looking to consolidate their debts, MoneySupermarket.com analysis shows that hundreds of pounds can be saved by moving to the best zero per cent credit card deals on the market.
Those unable to pay off their debt quickly and looking to spread the repayment costs over a period of time should ensure they have moved their outstanding credit card balance to a new zero per cent balance transfer card to potentially save hundreds of pounds in interest.
Consumer debt saw its biggest growth in a decade in November, according to new data from the Federal Reserve, as consumers headed into the holidays ready to spend.
CONSUMER CREDIT CARD DEBT JUMPS IN NOVEMBER Americans’ credit card debt shot up by more than $5 billion in November — the third straight monthly increase and the biggest jump in four years. Still, credit card debt is far below record highs set a few years ago. The chart below graphs Americans’ credit card debt totals from their peak of $972.2 billion in September 2008 through November 2011, when it rose to $798 billion. Read full post…
Aussies have been urged to take action in order to stop their levels of credit card debt from spiralling out of control. According to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, household credit card loans reached a record-high $40.6 billion in November, News Limited reports.
Hackers around the world have figured out how to break through internet security for some companies, and once inside the secure areas of the websites, copy credit card numbers, security codes and cardholder names and addresses. The stolen credit card details are then placed on a retail-style website, where thieves can purchase them for about $3.50 each. Nearly 8.4 million US credit card numbers are stolen annually.
Some of the “best” sites for buying stolen credit card details include an ability to search for cards based on the issuing bank – so customers can choose cards from institutions with weaker security and minimize their risks of being caught. Sites will also allow automatic validation before paying for the credit cards, to make sure the card details theyre buying have not yet been canceled by the banks and can be used to make purchases.
Other stolen credit cards are sold on illicit chat rooms and forums, where participants are allowed in based on invitation-only. Other sites exist to teach beginners the ways of hacking and credit card theft, which anyone can access.
The National Security Agencys Information Assurance Directorate, Tony Sager, says credit card fraud is growing faster than security can keep up. The federal authorities are treating global cybercrime similar to how they dealt with the US mafia – its organized crime and it will take awhile to dismantle it. Both the US FBI and European law enforcement are creating cybersquads to launch investigations of cybercrimes and credit card theft.
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