Zero Day Threat: The Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cybe... by Byron Acohido, Jon Swartz Amazon Price: $13.57
Customer Review: Zero Day Threat: the Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cyber Crooks Steal Your Money and Identity is an interesting and eye-opening look at how banks and credit card companies make ID theft and fraud rather elementary. But with all that, this book must be read in the larger context of how today's society deals with, and is often oblivious to risk. When is comes to risk, American society tolerates tens of thousands of drunk-driving deaths, gives millions in federal tobacco subsidies, and is oblivious about near-epidemics such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. With all that, it is doubtful that the myriad horror stories Zero Day Threat details will persuade Congress or the other players to do anything to curtail the problem with identity theft and internet fraud.
The internet and web have indeed revolutionized society, and there is hardly an industry that has not been positively affected by the net. On the down side, the net is the new conduit for criminals. For example, in the few years before the web became ubiquitous, U.S. and international law enforcement nearly had a noose around the child pornography industry and brought it to a near standstill. After the web, authorities have given up hope that child pornography can ever be contained.
Similarly, white-collar crime and fraud has been exacerbated by the net. Zero Day Threat details the various loopholes that criminals use to carry out their attacks and crimes. Each of the book's 18 chapters is divided into 3 section, exploiters -- which details how the crime lords and their teams carry out the crimes, enablers -- which details the history and current practices of credit card companies, banks, credit bureaus, and data brokers, and expediters -- which recounts how technology and technologies enable these crimes. I found that the breaking up of the chapters into such triplets is occasionally confusing, and you are left wondering what story you are in.
The book is based on the premise that the payment industry, namely the credit card companies, banks, credit bureaus and data brokers have created an infrastructure that is pliable, nearly endlessly extendable, but paper-thin when it comes to security. The system is built for ease of access, ease of granting credit, but without a robust security infrastructure or privacy controls.
Consider that the PCI Security Standards Council was not created until late 2004, and that will give you ...
I have been looking to refinance my home with a credit score average of 620 and it wasn't working out so well. I used advice and insight from this book and got my score up to a 750 average in 3 weeks! I really didn't have any money to work with either. Of course, paying off your credit lines is the best way to get your score up, but I was very surprised to learn a few new tricks to do so without even having to pay much off! The credit score system is ridiculous and if you think you know it all, you don't!
I love how well this book is organized. It makes rather difficult insights easy to understand and easy to put into action and it really doesn't take much reading to get there.
Thanks to the authors and researchers who put this together, no other book or website I could find even compares.
Dirty Little Secrets: What the Credit Bureaus Won't Tell You by Jason R. Rich Amazon Price: $10.36
Customer Review: I was very disappointed in this book. The "BIG" secret is; pay your bill's on time! This book actually gives bad advice if you are trying to better your credit score. There are many other books out there with much more and helpful information. Don't waste your money. Most of the book is about common sense or information you can find on the credit bureaus websites. Unless you want to know about how to handle debt collector's this book is useless. Not ONE dirty secret!!! I even checked the year the book was writen in, I thought maybe is was from a decade ago....
How To Get All The Credit You Want And Erase Your Bad Credit Record: And Eras... by Bob Hammond Amazon Price: $8.95
Customer Review: This book is 8 years out of date. In working with this text I found that many of the names of the organizations listed had changed, all the listed phone numbers were invalid, and most of the addresses and zip codes had changed. Therefore the validity of the "work around" suggestions are suspect. You will end up using a different book, one more current, so you may as well start there rather than with this one.
Great Credit...Guaranteed! by Arnold S. Goldstein Amazon Price: $15.96
Customer Review: I personally know the attorney who wrote this book. This is not why I find it to be a great book, but the information in this book is truly acurate and I highly recommed that EVERYONE read this! Very beneficial and being that I am a Certified Credit Repair Counselor, I do read up on books that are on Credit Repair to see what auhors have to write. I was very happy with this book, and I've refered it to many of my own clients. Knowledge is Power! For more information on Credit Repair, or if you need Credit Repair yourself call 1-866-341-8288, or you can visit us on the web ---------> [...]
~Melissa Navarro~
Guaranteed Credit: A Time-Tested Program Guaranteed to Provide Clear, Step-By... by Arnold S. Goldstein Amazon Price: Customer Review: While it is true that some of the strategies are "passé" for the information age, the principles still apply. I have raised my credit ration to a `Good" category, and my husband's to an excellent. I have some more items that will be coming off of my credit report, which should hopefully put me in the excellent category as well.
The main thing is to exercise your rights. If you read the book, but don't act, it's all academic. But I have acted, with great success!
Credit Secrets: How To Erase Bad Credit by Bob Hammond Amazon Price: $16.20
Customer Review: This book covered very basic information on how your credit report works & offered some very dubious ways to clear it up. For example: Change your social security number. I'm pretty sure there are some illegal things going on with that!
Life After Debt: The Blueprint for Surviving in America's Credit Society by Benjamin F. Dover, Sharon Hallberg, Linda Vanderwold Amazon Price: Customer Review: I used this info after my divorce and it saved me much grief. Now I order them to give to my friends who are in a financial jam.
Credit Scores and Credit Reports: How The System Really Works, What You Can D... by Evan Hendricks Amazon Price: $13.57
Customer Review: He not only explains the costly effects of our severely flawed credit reporting system, but he paints a remarkable picture of the incredible maze most have to travel when simply trying to maintain an accurate credit identity. It appears that Mr. Hendricks has ruffled a few feathers in the credit industry -and for that, we should all be thankful! Give Me Back My Credit!
World Bank backs use of credit bureaus Standard, Kenya - 3 hours ago By John Oyuke The World Bank Group has endorsed adoption of services of credit reference bureaus in the country. International Finance Corporation (IFC), ...
Zero Day Threat Slashdot - 6 hours ago Ben Rothke writes "Zero Day Threat: the Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cyber Crooks Steal Your Money and Identity is an interesting and ...
Some States Making It Easier for Consumers to Protect Credit Files ... Earthtimes (press release), UK - 11 hours ago By September 1 , laws in Arizona , Idaho , New Mexico , Utah , Wyoming , and Washington, DC will require credit bureaus to make the security freeze more ...
Balance credit and rights Independent Online, South Africa - Aug 25, 2008 It ensures the confidentiality of information stored with credit bureaus, the accuracy and relevance of information and the proper utilisation of data in ...
Identity Theft Protection Reinstated Hartford Courant, United States - 22 hours ago But one of the credit bureaus, Experian, began contacting people in late July who are covered under the contract. Experian wanted information ? government ...
The Credit Bureaus - Calculating Your Credit Score 3x24 - Your Newspaper and News Magazine, Germany - Aug 25, 2008 According to Equifax, one of three major credit bureaus in the United States, FICO scores are the deciding factor on more than 75% of credit applications. ...
Fast Credit Repair Is Quick And Easy 3x24 - Your Newspaper and News Magazine, Germany - Aug 27, 2008 Keep in mind that banks use credit reports from the major credit bureaus such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion to figure what you the consumer qualifies ...
Best Syndication The Official Credit Repair Tip - Be a Good Citizen, Pay Your Bills ... Best Syndication, CA - Aug 26, 2008 ... any knowledge of federal laws, or substitute for years of experience dealing with credit bureaus, credit card companies, or cretin collection agencies? ...
Q: Will using a credit counseling service ruin my credit score? MSNBC - Aug 27, 2008 ?As a general rule, when a lender settles for only part of the balance due on an account, the way this status is reported to the credit bureaus will lower a ...
Which credit scores do lenders use most often? Chester DailyLocal.com, USA - Aug 26, 2008 Equifax, one of the big-three credit bureaus, touts the score it sells as the same score that lenders use most to qualify someone for credit. ...
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