dcsimg
Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the savings offers appearing on this site are from advertisers from which this website receives compensation for being listed here. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). These offers do not represent all deposit accounts available.

Nigerian 419 Scams and Spam Emails Are Funny But They Make Me Paranoid


Nigerian 419 Scams and Spam Emails Are Funny But They Make Me Paranoid

Published 5/8/08  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

My online messaging routine was doing fine for a while. Every morning I would check my Yahoo e-mail account for messages, and then go about my regular work day, periodically checking back for personal and business related messages. Since I forward and consolidate all of my personal, work, and blog business related emails to one account with Yahoo, I have one easy point of access to my messages - essentially one well oiled emailing machine. Of course, there was always the occasional spam, but that was usually manageable - until now - until the Nigerians struck, and struck hard.

Spammers and Scammers Are Relentless And They Can Afford To Be - Sending E-Mail Lures With Scam Bait Doesn't Cost A Thing

Starting very recently, I've been receiving nearly 20-30 spam related messages everyday. I have no idea how they are effectively evading my spam filters, but they are. These spam messages are driving me absolutely crazy and are irritating to say the least. But one can't help but find some amusement from the content of these desperate messages. These spam letters that flood the web are mostly from the poor African country of Nigeria - sent by notorious computer users who run well documented Nigerian 419 scam operations. You know when you receive one of these classic Nigerian 419 spam letters as they are pretty recognizable. Usually the Nigerians use very flowery, British style English comprised of exaggerated legalese-type terminology to make the content appear more legitimate. However, oftentimes their lame use of the English language borders

Read the full article »

The Best Airline Miles Credit Card Offers For Frequent Flyers

Published 5/6/08  (Modified 8/11/14)

By MoneyBlueBook

Airline Credit Card Rewards and Offers

I have a friend who is absolutely nutty about frequent flyer miles. Because he has family and relatives who live all over the place - in New York, Chicago, India, and England to name a few, he travels by airplane quite frequently. It's not just him either. His new wife and immediate family members always seem to be on the go, and over time they've become quite the experts at taking advantage of discount airline tickets and cheap airfare deals. One of their smartest moves was to make sure that they always purchase their airline tickets using an airline miles credit card - to leverage the cumulative cost-saving power of frequent flyer miles. Not only does this have the added benefit of protection against airline bankruptcy risk (a real possibility these days), it also affords them the opportunity to earn substantial amounts of frequent flier miles redeemable for future free flights. By focusing their ordinary credit card purchases to earn airline miles, they've been able to fly for free many times - both domestically and internationally. These international airline reservations to fly across the oceanic pond definitely don't come cheap either - each coach class international flight can cost in excess of $1,000 - so getting some of the airline tickets by redeeming earned reward points or miles has definitely been a nice bonus.

Despite The Common Annual Fee and High Interest Rates Involved, Frequent Flyers Who Pay Off Their Credit Card Balance Every Month Will Benefit Greatly From

Read the full article »

"Parking Wars" Reinforces Why I Dislike Tow Truck Drivers

Published 5/3/08  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

Whenever I see a predatory tow truck driver or a parking meter maid strolling by, I just want to roll down my window quickly and yell out - "Hey you! Go (*bleep*) yourself you (*bleep bleep*)!"

As you can tell, I am not too fond of tow truck drivers. My disdain also carries over to others in the parking profession, including but not limited to opportunistic car booters and sneaky meter maids who dart from car to car with their little hand held tri-corder gadgets, tucking tickets under windshield wipers and escaping before the driver comes back and catches them in the act. While these parking ticketers bug me somewhat, they don't irritate me as much as tow truck drivers. Perhaps it's because parking ticket fines are usually not as financially hefty or as personally offensive as getting your car manhandled and forcibly hauled away by a stranger. Most of the time, I see tow truck drivers as nothing but conniving, predatory, and opportunistic vultures who feast on the vulnerable and distracted plight of unsuspecting drivers.

Just Watching Others Get Their Cars Towed In Their Absence Irritates Me

A few years ago I lived near a shopping center located next to a major Metro subway station. Every morning as I walked to the station to take the train to work, I witnessed the daily spectacle of tow truck sharks preying on those who failed to notice the no parking warning signs for non patrons. At the start of every morning rush, like clockwork precision, several red tow trucks

Read the full article »

How To Make Money From Balance Transfer Credit Cards

Published 5/1/08  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

As regular readers of my personal finance blog may know, I'm an avid credit card user and like to discuss the strategies and tips I use to maximize the credit card rewards I earn. While it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, adopting a responsible multi-credit card carrying approach has allowed me earn quite a bit of cash back income and frequent flyer airline miles from everything I purchase. Other than purchase rewards, credit cards also offer cardholders another very valuable and functional perk - the ability to make balance transfers and take advantage of balance transfer arbitrage. A key deference to the versatility and value of credit cards is the option to use special 0% balance transfer cards to perform a wide array of financial actions that benefit the cardholder. Such actions include the ability to help pay down debt by shifting high interest credit card loans onto 0% balance transfer offers to weather difficult cash-strapped financial times. Even for those blessed with an otherwise debt free lifestyle, balance transfer cards allow the clever arbitrage profit-seeking card holder to make money by taking advantage of special promotional rates.

Balance Transfers Allow You To Take Advantage Of Interest Free Loans For Debt Reduction and Credit Card Arbitrage Purposes

Balance transfer credit cards are key tools in my money management arsenal. Of course, the benefits are clearly tempered by the inevitable hazards. It's the classic opportunity that necessitates the walking of a fine line to chase higher risk rewards. To successfully navigate and perform a balance transfer

Read the full article »