Whoop, I guess my ATM card got skimmed

[ZX9RCAM]

But I get free money for using my Visa....

 

[Charlie]

But I get free money for using my Visa....

No matter what they tell you ....................... there is no such thing!

 

[ZX9RCAM]

No matter what they tell you ....................... there is no such thing!

The proof is in my bank account, can't fake that.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

I've been getting ~$1000/yr for the last 10 years.

 

[Charlie]

They are using your money. Nothing is free.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

How is the CC company using my money?
How is what I am getting not free to me?
I am using a service they provide, and they are giving me money to do it.

 

[Charlie]

I'm sure they are doing it out of the goodness of their heart!

 

[AustinN4]

No matter what they tell you ....................... there is no such thing!

If the item you are buying is the same price regardless of how you pay (cash or credit) and you get cash or points used like cash for using your CC it is free money if you pay off your balance in full every month.

 

[Charlie]

Correct, but there is risk involved.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

/\...this!
I pay off my balance about every 10 days, never pay any interest, they give me "cash back".

ETA: I got ninja'd.
What is the risk?

 

[TheDan]

I'm sure they are doing it out of the goodness of their heart!

They are hoping that you'll carry a balance. Most people do, so it's worth it for them to dangle that carrot for the few people that don't normally carry a balance.

 

[stdreb27]

You guys aren't even seeing the big risk of using a credit card.

The issue isn't skimming at the POS (point of sale level) that's small fry and the chance of them getting you is a drop in the bucket.

The real issue is them monitoring the data transmission from the retailers server to the clearing houses.

As of last year MOST of that data transmission is still unencrypted. When that happens they get everything, pins, numbers etc. They can sit on it, for a while so you'll never know your stuff got hacked. Then they can clone your stuff later.

The problem is the hardware at the POS for the most part doesn't have the programming to encrypt at the POS level.

The only folks where this isn't a problem. Are the tiny mom & pops with new systems off the shelf and systems like apple pay.

The only thing consumers can do is compartmentalize their money.

One credit card that is used. One bank account to pay that card off.

Then a different account for the bulk of your $$. That you only use to transfer to your bank that pays credit card.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

For a while, my CC was getting compromised about every 18 months. It was a hassle, but never cost me a dime.

 

[TheDan]

The real issue is them monitoring the data transmission from the retailers server to the clearing houses.

As of last year MOST of that data transmission is still unencrypted. When that happens they get everything, pins, numbers etc. They can sit on it, for a while so you'll never know your stuff got hacked. Then they can clone your stuff later.

Used to work for a company where more than 90% of our business was setting up MPLS and IPsec VPNs for point of sale systems, and this was several years ago now... If the transmissions coming from your POS aren't encrypted, you'll fail a PCI audit and lose your merchant accounts with the card companies.

 

[stdreb27]

Used to work for a company where more than 90% of our business was setting up MPLS and IPsec VPNs for point of sale systems, and this was several years ago now... If the transmissions coming from your POS aren't encrypted, you'll fail a PCI audit and lose your merchant accounts with the card companies.

Crap I misspoke the gap was between the pos terminal and the retail servers.


That's how they got target and a host of others...

 

[TheDan]

There should be multiple layers of encryption. On top of the transport encryption the card numbers are supposed to be encrypted in the system itself. There's definitely some bone headed vulnerabilities in some of these, tho... Remember that Home Depot issue a few years ago? Insider information says they were only encrypting half of the credit card numbers. The 1st half... You know, those digits that are the same for every card from that particular bank. If they had just encrypted the 2nd half of the card numbers none would have been stolen.

 

[AustinN4]

Correct, but there is risk involved.

Risk that I control. I have been putting every expenditure I can on cash/miles cards and pay them off every month. I have never paid CC interest. Ever. And if there is an annual fee it is way small compared to what I get back. A very good investment, IMO.

 

[peeps]

You guys aren't even seeing the big risk of using a credit card.

The issue isn't skimming at the POS (point of sale level) that's small fry and the chance of them getting you is a drop in the bucket.

The real issue is them monitoring the data transmission from the retailers server to the clearing houses.



The only thing consumers can do is compartmentalize their money.

One credit card that is used. One bank account to pay that card off.

Then a different account for the bulk of your $$. That you only use to transfer to your bank that pays credit card.

Still, any fraud going on with this sort of scenario means nothing to the consumer if you have a solid customer-based card.

Interesting point regarding compartmentalization. I like it.

Risk that I control. I have been putting every expenditure I can on cash/miles cards and pay them off every month. I have never paid CC interest. Ever. And it there is an annual fee it is way small compared to what I get back. A very good investment, IMO.

Boom, there ya go. Why use debit card that pays 0.0000000000001% interest when you can get $1000+ cash back per year from a CC? All it takes is some financial discipline. And, if you really want to tighten up, just make sure to have enough cash to plop down on the CC at a moment's notice to pay off the highest monthly expenses you've had - as a contingency.

 

[Texas42]

1. The credit card companies make more on average on you then you make on them. They are a multi billion dollar industry that spends a lot of money on getting money from you. Do you really think you are getting the better of them?

2. While a few people make a few hundred bucks a year off this game, there are a boat load of people who are financially struggling because of credit cards.

3. One of the biggest expense of credit cards is you spend more with plastic than cash. You impulse more. Even if you don't pay Visa a dime in interest, it costs you thousands.

4. Credit cards don't make people wealthy, but they can make you broke.

 

[AustinN4]

1. The credit card companies make more on average on you then you make on them. They are a multi billion dollar industry that spends a lot of money on getting money from you. Do you really think you are getting the better of them?

2. While a few people make a few hundred bucks a year off this game, there are a boat load of people who are financially struggling because of credit cards.

3. One of the biggest expense of credit cards is you spend more with plastic than cash. You impulse more. Even if you don't pay Visa a dime in interest, it costs you thousands.

4. Credit cards don't make people wealthy, but they can make you broke.

Every thing you listed there is the fault of the weak minded and not my problem. In my case, I make way more off of them (CCs) since they make nothing off of me. And it is also a lot more than a few hundred $, try several thousand per year.