Credit.com in the News 9/29/12

This week the experts from Credit.com contributed to a wide range of publications on subjects including credit cards, identity theft, data hacking and debt. Check out the hits…

The Alarming Ties Between Debt Collectors and District Attorneys

Adam Levin, Credit.com’s chairman and co-founder, unravels a twisted tale in which public officials illegally lend their credibility to debt collectors, allowing them to bully those they’re trying to collect from. He explains that the tactics collectors use can be illegal in their own right, but now some have become even more corrupt with the conspiracy of some district attorneys. The story raises the question, if you look to government officials to protect you from illegal debt collection practices, but they’re conspiring against you, where do you go for help? @Adam_K_Levin @HuffPostMoney

Is the government really dropping the ball on privacy?

Adam also spoke to WTOP about the government’s mishandling of personal data that accounts for the improper access of 94 million files. He attributes these problems to carelessness in bookkeeping and securing data. Negligent or corrupt insiders are at the root of this very large problem. Adam highlighted that the tolerance of these loose ends within the government is putting Americans in harms way and is outrageous. @wtop

Who Would Want to Target Consumerist?

Credit.com editor-in-chief Michael Schrieber commented on the unusual hacking of the personal finance website, The Consumerist. They still aren’t sure exactly how much data was compromised or what more they could have done to protect against the hack. During his discussion with ABC News the question at hand was the motivation behind this was? The site is a long time advocate of the little guy making this hack an uncharacteristic one. @schreibot @ABCNews

‘Discover’ Agrees to $200M Repayment To Settle Sales Tactics Complaint

Gerri Detwiller, Credit.com’s director of consumer education, explains what’s behind the Discover $200 million fine. The credit card company was offering “debt protection” for a fee to their cardholders. In turns out that they weren’t putting back the amounts they should have in accordance with what they were bringing in. Gerri predicts this settlement will continue to encourage banks to modify these programs or do away with them all together. @Gerridetweiler @CBSPhilly

Credit Where Credit’s Due

Credit.com credit expert Tom Quinn looks back at the credit environment directly after the financial crash and compares it to today’s lending practices. The article focuses on non-transferable international credit history and looks at the growing willingness of lenders to provide credit and loans to those who weren’t eligible a few years ago. @reviewjournal

Why Medicare Cards Still Show Social Security Numbers

NYT’s Bucks Blog wrote a story about why Social Security numbers are still printed on Medicare cards and the potential problems this could create. They cited an article written by Kali Geldis, Credit.com’s Deputy Managing Editor, following the Democratic National Convention where a woman held up her medicare card bearing her SSN for all the world to see. High cost and complexity are cited as reasons why SSNs remain on the cards, but others see the potential risk of identity theft as a much bigger risk. @KGeldis @Your_Money

Want to speak with one of our experts? Email us at pr(at)credit.com.