In the article Global Payment states that only credit card numbers were taken not names or social security numbers. This means the hackers are able to create bogus credit cards with the stolen numbers to make fraudulent purchases. As a consumer this does not make me feel better because now I need to monitor my credit cards, also what happens if there is an emergency and you go to make a payment but someone fraudulently maxed out your credit line.

This further reinforces that you should check your credit card statements monthly. You should also setup alerts for moderate to large purchases. Most credit cards have this option available online. You can also register your accounts with a service like mint.com, which allows you to setup alerts for your accounts. I hope that you were not affected, myself included. Oh, and maybe someday this country will enforce stricter protections on our personal information.

~Matt

Eventually she came back and told me the card was not working. I found this to be alarming because I have the mint.com app installed on my iPhone so I can ensure that my checking account is adequately funded. So I gave her the cash, rare as I usually do not carry any. And immediately opened the app to check my balance to find everything was kosher. Being the nerd that I am, i came home to check to see if there was an outage and found this article. Thankfully I was able to put my mind at ease since this clarified that the issue was indeed a technical one. However, the article mentioned something that I had not heard about. Apparently in early March of this year there was a security breach at a company called Global Payments, a credit card processing company.

When originally reported the article stated that there could be ten million plus card holders affected. A couple concerns I wanted to share came from this and am interested in what others may think as well. If this companys' function is to process transactions then why do they need my social security number and other specifics of my identity. The second issue is that when there is a breach why are they not obligated to alert card holders immediately. If an employee at Global Payments is stealing or damaging the company would they wait a month to address the issue. Of course not so why do these companies not have a fiduciary duty to notify people when there is a breach. I could give a blank about your share price, why is it in this country everyone owns our information but us. 

People say use cash which may help because maybe there are less places your data is stored but as long as our social security number is allowed to be used by everyone other than the government for tax and identity purposes, then identity fraud will continue to flourish. It is cheaper for companies to set reserves aside to deal with security breaches when they occur then to take more proactive measures to prevent them initially. Or the government could pass legislation that prevents companies from selling your information and allowing them to only use it for its intended purpose such as applying for a loan. They will not do this though because the lobbyist will continue to pay off the government for their own gain.

The only conclusion remains that you are responsible for protecting yourself. Do what you can to protect your identity? Nothing is guaranteed but there are things you can do to minimize opportunity and in the event soemthing happens, the damages.

1. Shred any documents with a confetti shredder that contain personal information.
2. Get your statements delivered electronically. This has an added bonus of "being green".
3. If you have a smartphone, use an app like Mint to track your account balances and set up alerts for purchases.
4. Check your credit report using annualcreditreport.com . You are allowed one report from each agency per year so check one agency every four months. This way you can monitor your credit report through the year for any suspicious credit lines.

~Matt

In addition to their low trade fees, they also offer a basket of ETFs that you can buy without paying the transaction fee. And to complete the trifecta of free, they offer a basket of No Load NTF mutual funds, which means there is no cost to buy or sell the funds. However, an expense fee will still apply as is customary with mutual funds so always read the prospectus before making your finally decision.

Here is an image of the Research and Tools section. I think it what you get for free without having to make a minimum amount of trades or monthly fee is comprehensive.

The last two things that I like about Firstrade is that they have an iPhone app which is very clean and easy to use. And I when I need to get in touch with customer support I have always had a very positive experience whether through the online chat or calling the support number. As always please do your own research and speak to a professional when necessary before making financial decisions as this is strictly for information purposes only.

Thank you,
Matt

Losses from stolen identities continue to grow and that is just the quantifiable damage. Forget the hours lost fighting and repairing your credit and identity. The FTC has a document called the Sentinel Annual Report, which is a comprehensive report of fraud and identity theft statistics. This can be downloaded here: FTC SENTINEL REPORT From 2010 to 2011 the FTC reports an increase of 28,051 complaints or ten percent. Remember this is only the reported incidents many go unreported.

As you can see identity theft is a growing problem. However, you would not think our own government would be creating opportunity. How are they doing this? Well I have mentioned two ways already above, allowing the social security number to be used for everything instead of just for tax purposes and government benefits as it was intended, and by not having stricter consumer laws to protect gathering, sharing and selling of OUR information. The third way was made apparent to me this year.

I received a correspondence from the IRS. On the envelope it was clearly labeled, Internal Revenue Services. Inside were documents, most of which had my complete SS# and current name and address. Had someone decided to take this or open it he would have had the most important pieces of my identity. The only thing they would be missing is my drivers license number and my picture. The latter, which they could get from my Linked In profile. In addition, from what I have read not having my drivers license would probably not be much of a hurdle.

So if anyone from the Government happens to stumble upon this article please have the IRS send documents in a plain white envelope and not have my complete SS# plastered on all the contents. I know what my SS# is and you do because you sent me the documents. It is like giving your keys to a car thief. While you are reading this, maybe change the laws to protect my privacy better as well.

My intentions were good, making meals for the week so I was not tempted to dine out. However, it was later in the evening and apparently my tank was on empty. I had four pounds of chicken in the oven which needed about ten more minutes. Then I fell asleep but luckily woke up before my place had burned down. So the chicken was trash and a valuable lesson was learned, DONT COOK WHEN TIRED.

I know this is somewhat humorous but there is a general lesson here. Planning and time are important. I should have PLANNED better and started cooking at an earlier TIME.

Link to the Governments version of unemployment:
http://economywatch.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/09/10621372-employment-grows-solidly-for-third-straight-month

Link to what the real version of unemployment data:
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/03/08/abbott--costello-take-on-the-real-unemployment-rate

What is my point you may ask? First do not believe what you read, things are in bad shape and are not getting better. This means you are on your own when it comes to improving your standard of living. Second, working and earning a wage for most people will have them continually behind the eight ball. I do not want to scare you but this should show you that you need to take control of your finances. Educate yourself so that you can remove your dependence on a normal job and the need for credit or other financial shackles.

Let me know your thoughts.

I have tried it out doing several tasks and earning twelve dollars. I think it is one of those things were the amount of success you have depends on where you are located. I live in a pretty small town, near other small towns so my chances of making any real money is proably slim. However, in the forums there are people who are make $500 plus a year. Does not seem like much but every bit helps now and days. 

After my trial run I started thinking, is what I am doing legal. Do they screen the jobs to make sure they are legal and from legit companies. The answer according to their terms and conditions is no.  In fact they very specifically state the following;

"We are not responsible for the actions of any Client or Agent. We do not conduct any screening or other verification with respect to Clients or Agents, nor do we provide any recommendations. As a Client or an Agent, you use the Site and the App at your own risk." 

I have not come across anything saying that someone had issues legally but it is enough to make me walk away. Especially based on the amount you can earn. I think even for those make $2000 or more it is not worth the effort. There are plenty of other very legal jobs you can do that are part time and will earn you a descent side wage. Maybe I am being paranoid but when someone takes to indemifying themselves so specifically it raises a red flag for me. I would love to get feedback from people have used it for awhile.

Thanks,
Matt

I realize this may not be news to the more vigilant Personal Finance junkies but there is a newer online bank called Perk Street Financial. Their big marketing push is a "Cash Back" debit card. The advantage being that you do not have to use or being able to get a credit card to get rewards. The upshot being you are earning cash back, debt free on purchases you would normally make. Here is my complete list of the pros and cons.

PROS:
1 -- 5% unlimited cash back on qualifying purchases that rotate monthly. Details can be found by clicking the "How to Earn 5% PowerPerks" here. 

2 -- 2% unlimited cash back on all purchases for the first 90 days of opening your account.

3 -- 2% unlimited cash back after 90 days each day your account balance is $5000 or greater.

4 -- 1% unlimited cash back if the above criteria are not met.

5 -- No minimum balance fee.

6 -- No ATM surcharge fee when using STARsf® ATMs

7 -- FDIC Insured ( $250,000 )

CONS:
1 -- Inactivity Fee. PerkStreet assess a fee of $4.50 per month that you do not make a qualified transaction. Examples would be a deposit or debit card. For more details click "Our Fees"  here.

2 -- ATM surcharge fee at non STARsf and no amount reimbursed.

3 -- Cash Back is only redeemable as specific gift cards, a list can be found by clicking "See Redemption Options" here.

I have no affiliation and currently do not bank here but as you can see the biggest "Perk" is the ability to earn points on debit purchases. In summary I think my only real complaint is that they are marketing the rewards as cash back. This is misleading because unlike a Discover which actually deposits cash into a specified account, Perk Street Financial does not deposit cash into your account. It would be more accurate to describe this as a rewards or points programs. The points can then be redeemed for specific gift cards. I think if you are like me and perfer to bank online, that Perk Street Financial is hard to beat when it comes to their rewards program. Let me know what you think or if you bank with them what your experience has been.

Thank you,
~Matt