Unclaimed Property Blog

That library card you received as a child could cost you as an adult. Read on to find out how.

If you haven’t returned an overdue library book your credit rating could drop by 100 points! This also applies to the videos that can now be rented at libraries.

More and more public libraries are turning to collection agencies to make sure you pay up.

Unique Management Services is an example of a recovery service that will report your overdue fines to your credit agency if you don’t pay up after 120 days.

Have you ever decided not to purchase something on the internet because you were unsure about the site or had the feeling something might be wrong? Read on to find a source for that feeling.

The threat of identity theft is remote but real. With hackers, hijackers and spoofers out there waiting to steal your ID, password and financial information, a little caution is needed. This includes online and off.

When you’re paying bills, making investments, viewing your bank balance, checking your credit card statements, preparing your taxes and buying stuff online, are you taking a risk with your confidential financial information?

Are you aware that 55% of Americans do not have a will? It is one subject no one really wants to talk about since it does involve death and money.

However, ignoring this topic could one day leave these choices in the hands of the state to decide. Do you really want that?

First of all you have to accept the fact that there may never be a good time to talk about death, so don’t put if off.

If you have ever been taken in by the idea that your credit report could be improved for a price, you will be glad to know something is being done about it.

Government regulators are cracking down on companies that claim to remove negative information from consumer credit reports.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and eight state law enforcement agencies, have identified 20 companies that promise to remove information from consumers’ credit reports for a fee.

These scammers keep on getting trickier and trickier. Read on for the most recent concept. It’s pretty ingenious.

Banks have begun putting a three-digit security number on the back of each credit card as an extra line of defense in an effort to foil thieves who steal credit card numbers. The tactic has proven to be effective. So thieves have been working to formulate new scams to trick consumers into voluntarily revealing that code, according to the New York State Banking Department.

You bring in the mail, put it down in the usual place and by the end of the week you have a pile of paperwork. And now that it is the week end you want to go have fun rather than organize your bills. Read on and learn some simple solutions to dealing with that pile of papers.

The best solution is to keep it simple. The more complex you get the less likely you are to do something about the situation.

When your son or daughter reaches the teen years finances change too. Adding your child onto your car insurance can be financially overwhelming for some parents. Below are some tips on how to cut this cost.

Find out how your insurer assigns drivers to cars. This differs from insurer to insurer and can make a huge difference in the premium you pay.

For example, if there are three drivers and two cars in your household, some insurers will assign the driver who’s the most expensive to insure (your child) to the car that’s the most expensive to insure.

Credit card companies are increasing the minimum monthly amount due in an effort to speed the repayment of the debt. However, what do you do about this higher monthly outflow enforced upon you?

Some credit cards have a minimum monthly payment that will take almost 30 years to wipe out the debt. This is the basic reason behind the increase on minimum monthly payments that creditors are implementing.

Simply put, when there isn’t enough coverage from the health insurance for medical bills people are turning to bankruptcy to solve the financial situation they are faced with.

Illness and medical bills caused half of the 1,458,000 personal bankruptcies in 2001, according to a study published by the journal Health Affairs.

The study estimates that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans annually.

Another interesting fact, most of those bankrupted by illness had health insurance. More than 3/4 were insured at the start of the bankrupting illness. However, 38 % had lost coverage at least temporarily by the time they filed for bankruptcy.

Most of us know about phishing. Now it is time to learn about rats.

Computer criminals have recently become much more sophisticated in their attacks against online banks. The Internet is now becoming infested with RATs “remote access Trojans”, these programs feed on online banking passwords.

Trojan horse programs have traditionally garnered their way onto computers by posing as desirable free software, such as electronic greeting cards or file-sharing programs. The malicious programs are hidden, and just like the Greek soldiers hidden in the famous wooden horse, they jump out to attack once they are safely inside. Sometimes they are pushed onto computers without any interaction at all, through various software vulnerabilities. If this is the case, you would likely have no way of knowing your machine has been invaded and infested.