24h Market Info

Everyone thinks they’re safe from the current financial crisis.... Read More

With the increase in white collar crimes in securities fraud, banking and investment misappropriations, comes the increase demand for forensic accountants with strong knowledge of accounting procedures and financial experience coupled with strong analytic and investigative skills. According to U.S. World and News Report, forensic accounting is one of the most secured job opportunities for the future.... Read More

ATM fraud issues in the most part involve credit card fraud and debit card fraud. The ATM machine may be the ‘common purchase point’ (CPP) where analysis shows that a significant number of credit cards or debit cards were used genuinely in one specific location prior to detection of subsequent fraudulent transactions. Even when not the CPP, automated teller machines may be the mechanism used to convert compromised credit cards and debit cards into hard cash, so long as the credit card fraud or debit card fraud included compromise of the personal identification number (PIN). ATM skimming is now common in most parts of the world that have a mature network of ATMs, self-service terminals and point of sale (POS) terminals that accept magnetic stripe based credit cards and debit cards. Most bank ATM security issues and ATM fraud issues involving ATM skimming are the result of criminals attaching an ATM skimmer to the ATM card reader slot. Europe has historically been one of the most targeted geographies for ATM skimming attacks, although the world-wide spread of such ATM skimming fraud has been, and continues to be significant. ATM deposit fraud which includes both cash deposit fraud and cheque fraud (check fraud) at automated teller machines is one type of ATM fraud that is particularly common in the US where many banks have a culture of crediting and allowing drawings against the deposit prior to manual reconciliation and verification. ATM hacking should really only be used to describe attacks against the internals of the ATMs software or the ATMs systems security but is commonly used to describe attacks against card processors and other components of the transaction processing network. The US have experienced a number of high profile ‘ATM hack’ attacks against well known credit card and debit card processors. Some of the systems security breaches have included compromise of the PIN in addition to the card data, with subsequent fraudulent spend using cloned credit cards and cloned debit cards at ATMs. Another ATM fraud issue is ATM card theft which includes credit card trapping and debit card trapping at ATMs. Originating in South America this type of ATM fraud has spread globally. Although somewhat replaced in terms of volume by ATM skimming incidents, a re-emergence of card trapping has been noticed in regions such as Europe where EMV Chip and PIN cards have increased in circulation. ATM funds transfer fraud is prevalent in Asia. This ATM scam involves criminals tricking victims into using the automated teller machine to transfer money into the criminals account. ATM security attacks involving physical attacks against the ATM security enclosure are widely spread. ATM explosive attacks although originating and not uncommon in Europe are more prevalent in Australia and South Africa. ATM ram raid incidents also occur globally but are most prevalent in the US, perhaps partly due to the large number of ATMs deployed in soft-target locations such as convenience stores. ATM security incidents involving a high degree of precision to gain access to the ATM security enclosure occur globally. The UK and Canada have experienced many such precision ATM security attacks in recent years.... Read More

The term “toxic assets” is tossed around quite a bit these days, especially now that the Treasury Department has announced plans to buy up U.S. banks’ bad assets to the tune of $1 trillion dollars (more on that in a minute). Terms like toxic assets have become common place, like the terms mortgage meltdown, financial crisis and economic stimulus. But does the American public understand what these toxic assets really are?... Read More

There’s an old television program that aired in the 1960’s called Hogan’s Heroes. Sgt. Schultz (John Banner) was one of the main characters. His constant exclamation throughout his tenure on this show was, “I know nothing!” Is that where you are in regards to how to buy a home without a down payment? If so, you are about to become educated.... Read More

For most of us, our mortgage pipelines are in dire need of some good solid loan business. If you fall in this category, it may be time to evaluate the business opportunities that await you in the Reverse Mortgage marketplace.... Read More

Last year we struggled with the fact that we needed to fund our college students dreams without much money in the bank. When we turned to student loans we had no idea there were so many different types of student loans. Let us walk you through a quick recap of what you can expect from the 8 dissimilar types of student loans.... Read More

If you have never been to Costa Rica or another Central American country, you may be quite surprised at how local banks outside of a first world country operate.Banks in Cost Rica often behave as if they are doing the customer a favor in serving him and not vice versa. ... Read More

Home equity loan is a type of loan in which the borrower uses the equity in their home as collateral. But, there could be occasions when the home does not have any equity, especially if home values have decreased considerably or it has a second mortgage. In such cases it is often difficult to get a loan. Still, there are some ways to get a loan on the home, popularly known as no-equity loans provided you are able to meet certain terms and conditions.... Read More

Logbook loan is considered by many as the best loan option if you require money for urgent or regular expenses. It is particularly attractive for those who are looking for easy borrowings. One the key reasons for its increasing popularity is because it is available totally without any hassle and interest rates are fairly reasonable, almost similar to other traditional secured loans. These are usually short term secured loans taken out against the logbook or your car as collateral. All enquiries are treated in strict confidence. The loan is usually offered on the same day as the application. This is a distinctive feature of logbook loans. ... Read More