Business
With credit card fraud and identity theft happening more frequently, we all have to step up our game. Learn keys ways to protect your finances and identity! Fraud Protection I hope you never have to deal with identity theft, data breaches, or fraud but chances are you will. There were 4.8 million identity theft and fraud reports received by the FTC in 2020, an increase of 45 percent from 2019. The Ascent from Motley Fool reported that credit card fraud was the most common type of identity theft last year – over 270,000 reports. Another unfun stat – identity theft doubled from 2017 to 2019. Finally in 2019 almost 165 million records containing personal data were exposed through data breaches. The point? Cyber crimes aren’t going away anytime soon. In fact last year, I got it.Twice. The first one, I received a call from Coastal about suspicious activity on my card. Thankfully that was quickly resolved. Second time, I discovered it when doing my monthly review. I saw a $140 charge from California. I called and explained this wasn’t me. It took a month of back and forth, but I got it cleared. I was a headache. One I hope you avoid. Which is why I’m so glad Joe Mecca is back on the show. In this episode we get into: Practical ways we can protect our finances when you're offline or online What you need to do if your card is compromised Hope you enjoy it! Resources to Protect Your Finances If you're getting more proactive with protecting your identity and money, here are some handy resources to check out! Best Budget and Money Apps: Personal Capital, Tiller, Mint Grow Your Stash Faster: High Yield Savings with CiT Bank Jumpstart Your Marriage and Your Money IdentityTheft.gov Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft Annual Credit Report: Free way to review each of your credit reports LastPass Easy Ways to Prevent Identity Theft Report reveals data breaches that could affect millions of Americans