Miata Mailing List: July 1999, Message #1213

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> Very elaborate, obviously fictious story. Do you really think the gas
> station worker would attract attention by calling in the "missing card"
At
> most he could complete one scam cycle then be easily caught. There are
much
> easier ways to steal. This story is so full of holes...

If I were the gas station attendant I would definitelly not call it in...
then again, If I were the gas station attendant I'd probably not be stealing
credit cards either.

> Who cares anyway? Liability is only $50 and 99% of times this will be
> waived.

Direct liability, AKA what you as the violated party pay immediatelly...
sure you're right, both counts.  However... when Joe Gasdude steals $20,000
from Citybank WHO DO YOU THINK PAYS FOR THAT?!?!  Granted you don't pay it
directly, but YOU pay it... I mean, we all pay it.  I'm not saying that we
should all be paranoid all our lives expecting to be scammed every minute of
the day, but I strongly disagree with your *who cares* attitude.  If you
have a credit card, YOU SHOULD CARE.

> But the really stupid thing a consumer can do is to accept a visa-debit
> card. Banks are pushing these hard as it pushes liability onto the
customer.
> Ss someone else pointed out, the visa-debit card can drain your bank
account
> quickly if on the wrong hands. Banks love these as they don't have to give
> you the 25 day float, nor do the same consumer protection laws apply.

David,

I only have credit cards... I eliminated my Debit card a while back.

There are excellent reasons to have one of those cards:

1)  Some people don't have good enough credit to get a REAL VISA without
some ridiculous annual fee and mandatory $500 deposit

2) Some people are incapable of keeping track of their expenditures with a
Credit Card and may end up in considerably serious financial trouble if they
don't first *train* themselves with something a bit more limited.

3) If you ensure you don't have OVERDRAFT PROTECTION (which if you're in
control of your finances you shouldn't need anyway... get a copy of MsMoney)
and only keep $25 in the checking account linked to the card, guess what the
max liability would be.  That's what I used to do... when I needed more mula
I'd call my bank and do a transfer from my savings account to the checking
before making the purchase.

> To be honest, if you use a visa-debit card rather than a regular credit
card
> you are an idiot and will get scammed during your life one way or another.

I'm quite sure you didn't intend to offend anyone with that statement, but
do consider the possibility that many have no choice (that was my case...
moved here from Italy, had a job but the credit card companies saw a 23 year
old who had no credit history and thought I must have been a fool not having
a credit card since age 11)... and many others are fully aware of the risks
they may be running but have found ways to make those risks manageable.
We're all likely to get scammed during our life one way or antoher....
actually I've been already scammed... in Hungary on the Currency Black
market.... it was a sight to see and definitelly worth the $20 or so I lost
in the process...

> In general don't worry about CC scams.

I agree on not WORRYING about it, but  ....

> You have very little liability, it
> might give you a headache and waste some time, but not near as much  as
> you'll waste by reading fictious stories about CC scams.

.. I don't agree on not taking the time to be aware of it.

Worrying is one thing... and it's bad... so is ignorance.

> The above applies to the US market only.
>
> DB

The above applies to the US, Europe, Canada, Cambodia, Trinidad, parts of
Madagascar, Japan, the former Soviet Union, all Danish protectorates, most
Danish pastries, some French fries, a German Sheapard, two English muffins,
and Switzerland.

--
Alessandro & the Strategic Toy Deployment Unit formerly known as
SnowWhite (White'99L)
Hollywood, Florida

Team Frost-Gap'99
Tean Got rid of the SP8000 Crapola.... Gotta love them Pilots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Team FM front Sway

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