How does the average consumer get by without a basic checking account?  How does someone without a checking account pay the bills that arrive each month – drive around to each creditor and pay in cash?  Where do you keep your savings – under the mattress or buried in the back yard? As incredible as it may seem, millions of Americans have neither savings or checking [...]

That official looking bank check you receive in return for the sale of goods or services might actually be worthless.  The con men and criminals producing counterfeit bank checks has prompted the FDIC to issue numerous warnings about specific banks that have reported counterfeit checks drawn in their name. The FDIC has noticed explosive growth in counterfeit cashier’s checks, [...]

January 12, 2011 – The FDIC reported today that they received numerous reports from consumers who had received emails allegedly sent to them by the FDIC.   The email attempts to solicit sensitive personal financial information from the recipient by claiming that FDIC insurance on their deposit accounts had been withdrawn.  The email is a scam and consumers are strongly [...]

December 22, 2010 – FDIC Issues Alerts On Counterfeit Cashier’s Checks The reason why counterfeit official checks continue to appear is because they produce huge profits for criminals.  An unwary consumer, trained to believe that a cashier’s check is equivalent to cash, can be an easy mark for con men and criminals. The increasing number of counterfeit cashier’s [...]

November 18, 2010 – Several years ago, the mortgage underwriting standards of banks were so liberal that nearly anyone could get an approval, regardless of income levels or credit scores.  The subsequent real estate crash and huge number of mortgage defaults since those easy lending days has resulted in much tougher underwriting standards. Many borrowers with adequate income [...]

QE (quantitative easing) has arrived and will ultimately impact the financial well being of all Americans. Is it possible that something so profoundly disrupting to the financial world would go unnoticed by mainstream America?  Is John Q Public indifferent or oblivious to the Fed implementing a reckless monetary policy previously reserved for banana republics? In an unscientific [...]

September 9, 2010 – As if the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) didn’t have enough issues to contend with, it now appears than criminals are impersonating the FDIC in an attempt to steal money or obtain sensitive financial information from consumers. The FDIC reports that it has received numerous reports of scam artists calling consumers and pretending to [...]