Money Blue Book

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 on comical and their complete lack of understanding regarding American and western male and female names makes me chuckle. For some reason they have a habit of using the funniest and oddest fake first and last names – using common first names as last names, and improperly matching up male and female names – like Peter John, Mark Donna, or Smith Karen for example – frequently it’s pretty obvious they’re fake names as the names simply sound unnatural. But then again, these Nigerians and African spammers are not incredibly bright. They may be criminally and diabolically clever, but they are not exactly all that well educated or worldly. They resort more to the law of probability and the long held truism that “a sucker’s born every minute”. By casting a very wide net, even their ill conceived attempts may net at least one or two potential biting fish in the long haul.

It’s not just the crazy Nigerians either, spammers and scammers live in other countries as well – all beyond the reasonable reach of established arms of law and justice. Most of them approach the spam and scam business utilizing the same typical shot gun approach. Since the Internet affords the ability to send out many messages at relatively little to no cost, they are able to send out massive amounts of spam emails to potential victims with one click of the mouse or a single tap of the keyboard. Perhaps 75% of their spam messages will be screened out by domain or email spam filters, and perhaps another 90% of those that don’t get filtered out are ultimately deleted by the recipients immediately. However, a small percentage will still get through and a small percentage will be read, and an even smaller percentage will ultimately fall for the scam bait. While the chances of an unwitting recipient acting acting upon the message and replying back to the Nigerian scammer are slim, some people still do.

Frankly, these scammers from Nigeria, Eastern Europe, and South East Asia have nothing to lose – the scams are usually quite profitable for them. Take the Nigerians for example – they live in a wasteland of a country – with a corrupt government, lax law enforcement, high unemployment, with little semblance of an economy. Any amount of money they can siphon from American citizens or that of other western countries is worth the effort and time. To them, there is simply very little risk involved since their government and police enforcement officials either turn a blind eye to their antics, don’t care, or are simply too financially overwhelmed to take on the challenge of cracking down on computer crimes.

Although I may have some sympathy for the poor economic lives the scammers must live in their native countries, their criminal attempts at trickery often leave me coldly and sarcastically insensitive. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t amuse myself with their lame shenanigans. That’s why I sometimes enjoy reading spam emails – they’re funny. They really amuse me – like something from the funny pages. Today I received an email from poor “Madam Ruth Moses” who addressed me as “dearly beloved in Christ”, stating that she was “suffering from a cancerous ailment” and that she was “married to Engineer Gilbert Moses an Englishman who is dead”. Apparently they lived a life of charity of helping the “down trodden and the less-privileged individuals”. Evidently she now has $4.4 million US dollars in some African bank due to a large financial payout stemming from her husband’s untimely death in a car accident that she is unable to retrieve, and is willing to give me a 25% cut if I assist by providing her a “small process charge” to help facilitate the release. Oh how generous and noble of Mrs. Moses – especially since she enjoys citing biblical passages in her message to me, for as she puts it “The Almighty will fight my case and I shall hold my peace.” Comical, yet pretty pathetic. If I ever had the chance to meet any of these spammers, I’d laugh at their face for 15 minute straight.

I Am Now Very Distrustful and Extremely Paranoid About Doing Business Or Any Online Communication With Residents From Proven Scam and Spam Prevalent Countries

Unfortunately, what scammers with their spam emails have done is made me very distrustful of anyone from traditional scam haven countries. The list of countries mainly stem from poor, and legally and socially undeveloped countries like Nigeria, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and Indonesia, but it also covers countries like Russia as well. Many of these third world countries either have corrupt governments or are constantly experiencing tribal warfare and upheaval that prevent stable law and judicial enforcement to flourish. But as of now, I would never do any online business with people who live in those countries at the present time. I’ve already been tricked once and after my one time experience of getting scammed during my post college years, I’ve learned my lesson. It may not be politically correct, but I think it’s a smart business move to refrain from doing any online or Internet transactions with anyone from these countries – the financial risks are simply too high. My purpose for rejecting individuals from these countries is not to stir up racial, ethnic, or even social controversy, but simply to protect my own financial interests, so please don’t take offense. I would gladly do business with them and so would millions of American merchants on eBay, Craigslist, and other online stores if only fraud wasn’t such a huge and rampant problem in those parts of the world.

I run a few small online eBay and weblog businesses (take a look at my ebay business guide), and these days the quickest way to turn me off and cause me to reject your business proposition right off the bat is to say you’re from Africa – it frankly doesn’t matter which country in Africa. I have yet to meet a single African country (aside from South Africa, although that’s debatable as well) that I trust to do business with. The rampant scams and spams that originate from that continent have turned me into a hyper-vigilant person. Most African countries simply have undeveloped legal systems that prevent merchants or publishers like myself from being able to bring legal action to effectuate contractual disputes. That is why the U.S. is such a great country. Despite our over-lawyered and lawsuit-happy society, we have a perfected legal system that ensures legal disputes have a forum to be heard and resolved. Scammers and spammers have a much more difficult time operating their illegal craft here in this country. A few foreign rotten apples have really ruined the whole international tree and apple pile, but online entrepreneurs like myself have to do to what it takes to protect ourselves and our interests. It may seem racist and prejudicial to rule out a whole segment of the world’s population, but it’s not – it’s just smart business.

Despite eBay’s attempts to provide it’s buyers and sellers with more purchase and selling protection, many if not most major eBay Power Sellers now refuse to ship to certain dangerous countries, such as Nigeria or Indonesia. A sizable number of merchants have even ruled out shipping to any foreign destination due to the prevalence of scammers living overseas where they are shielded from prosecution. It’s terrible what these online and Internet scammers have done to the whole industry. These days as I browse through business propositions and offers I receive over email on a regular basis, even African sounding surnames, African cities (like Lagos, scam capital of Nigeria), African banks, and anything to do with Africa trigger glaring red flags when I evaluate Internet commerce deals. So if your online business is based in Africa, I’m sorry, but I don’t want to do business with you at this time. Perhaps someday when your government stabilizes and sets up a legal system that will protect and ensure my legal and contractual interests I will consider it. But until then, too bad so sad. If you are a legitimate African, East European, or South East Asian business, don’t be offended if established western and far east Asian businesses demand strenuous proof of identity and extra evidence of trustworthiness before doing business with you.

All About The Nigerian 419 Advance Fee Fraud – Also Known As The Check Cashing Scam (For Those Not Familiar With What They Are)

The classic Nigerian 419 scam has been around for a long time but scam success didn’t fully take off until the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web. The country of Nigeria has all the essential ingredients that has enabled it to become the worldwide hub of Internet and computer crimes. The country is not only dirt poor, but unemployment is incredibly high, and the government is hopelessly corrupt and incompetent. The country also happens to be an English speaking nation – making it all the more easier for select scammers to communicate with their primarily English speaking victims all over the world. The 419 numeric designation refers to the Nigerian Criminal Code that covers the crime of fraudulently obtaining property through false pretenses. Unfortunately the 419 criminal code is a mockery of the Nigerian legal and criminal enforcement system as the laws in that country are frequently ignored and flaunted, thereby allowing scammers and spammers to run rampant with little fear of accountability. The Nigerian 419 scams have recently developed into a world wide epidemic of Internet fraud crimes that have branched and spun off into other criminal areas such as: charity scams, romance scams, lottery scams, and even threats of violence and extortion scams.

In its most common form, the Nigerian 419 fraud is also known as the Nigerian advance fee scam. The process works by its ability to successfully build trust and emotional confidence with the alleged victim over time, and ultimately persuade him or her to provide confidential financial information or to send sums of money for the possibility of a much larger gain in return. The scam appeals to human greed and the fallible desire to inherently trust others. Through easy and unregulated access to Internet cafe computers and connections, Nigerian scammers have been able to harvest e-mail addresses and contact information to use in their elaborate scams. With potential victim contact information in hand, they usually submit massive amounts of electronic letters to recipients though deceptive means such as spoofed email letters, and cleverly disguised and graphically adorned emails that hide their malicious intent and true source. Oftentimes they’ll write and pretend to be a wealthy heiress or someone who is terminally ill and dying from a disease like cancer, and plead with the recipient for an amount of money in exchange for the promise that they will pay back the amount plus more. Oftentimes they will cleverly claim that they have access to or are in control of a vast financial fortune to which they would be willing to offer the recipient a huge portion as a reward if he or she would provide some upfront money first.

These scam letters are frequently very, very elaborate, as they often disguise the email meta headers to make them seem like they came from legitimate sources such as governmental agencies (like the classic IRS email scam letter for example). Sometimes the headers aren’t even disguised all that well, but the messages still contain content indicative of a mass spam campaign to artificially inflate the stock price of a particular financial investment (penny stock scam spam). Oftentimes they’ll make references to real life current events such as tragic disasters or make reference to official business developments such as laying claim to being connected with some wealthy foreign business developer in the news. Oftentimes they utilize fake phone numbers that can’t be tracked down. One common ploy of the advance fee scam is to send the recipient a fraudulent Western Union or fake personal check for a very large amount of money, and write to the recipient to apologize for the excess amount that was sent and ask for a portion back in supposed good faith. The recipient, thinking he or she will get to keep a large portion for their services, deposits the fake check and cuts out a legitimate sum of money that he or she then sends to the scammers. In time, the check will undoubtedly bounce, forcing the recipient to swallow his or her losses with the bank – an unfortunate result that still happens despite attempts to thoroughly educate the public on the prevalence of Internet scams and how they work.

Updated List Of The Top Airline Credit Card Rewards and Offers Below

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 for free 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 Airline Travel Reward Cards

The attractive appeal of airline mile credit cards stem from their ability to earn and save up a substantial amount of frequent flyer miles over time, redeemable for free or heavily discounted airline tickets in the future. However, the use of airline travel reward cards does require a bit of patience since flight miles rewards can’t be redeemed or converted into free or discounted flights until the required redemption amount has been attained. Less patient people like myself usually stick with cash back credit cards or plain old reward credit cards that automatically accrue rebate rewards as you go along. But those who consider themselves frequent flyers, business travelers, or simply individuals who like the idea of saving up for a huge reward prize rather than redeeming for smaller incremental rewards throughout the year – may benefit greatly from frequent flier credit card offers. However, potential card applicants should keep in mind that because of the pricey nature of airline tickets, to earn enough mileage rewards with your travel reward credit card to qualify for a free airline ticket will necessitate quite a bit of spending. If you only use your credit card for a few dollars of purchases here and there every few months, it will likely take you forever to save up the necessary amount to redeem for even a cheap domestic ticket. However, if you are a big credit card spender and use credit cards to do all of your regular purchasing, and don’t mind channeling your credit card reward earning efforts towards accruing frequent flyer miles, you will benefit greatly from the free flight reward potential of airline credit cards.

Redeeming airline miles for free flights is usually a straight forward process with most travel reward and airline specific credit cards. Actual program terms vary, but miles are usually offered at a rate of 1 or 2 point(s) per $1 spent using the card. Most of the time, once you hit a certain total point or miles level (15,000 miles for example), you are permitted to call in a request for a free flight. International flights will obviously demand more mileage than U.S. domestic flights.

A few other important things concerning airline reward credit cards to be aware about is that they tend to charge annual fees of $75-$100 or more, as well as impose slightly higher APR interest rates compared to other types of credit card reward programs. But if you are a responsible credit card user and always pay off your balance on time every month, the interest rate effect will be minimal. The credit card annual fee amount may seem like a lot to the common consumer, but if you are someone who flies frequently several times or more throughout the year, any residual financial pain felt by having to pay an annual fee will be easily offset by the chance to earn free airline flights.

Airline Brand Specific Credit Cards Vs. Non-Airline Specific Travel Rewards Cards

While most airlines carriers impose frequent flyer miles expiration dates, many if not most airline travel credit card programs have no mileage expiration. This is important and useful because it affords cardholders the proper extended time needed to save up for the frequent flyer trip of their choice. No one wants to feel pressured about having to redeem their flight miles for lesser travel rewards at the risk of forfeiture, especially in light of the given fact that sufficient airline miles take longer to accrue. While some card programs impose seat restrictions and flight reservation blackout dates during which cardholders are not permitted to get free flights for certain times of the calendar year, the vast majority of the flight reward programs out there do not impose such restrictions or limitations. All consumers who are interested in applying for an airline travel rewards card offer should most definitely stay away from cards that impose mileage expiration or blackout dates. There’s no point in being restricted like that as there are plenty of more flexible options available.

In my opinion, I think most frequent flyers and travelers should stick to bank sponsored or generic travel reward credit cards. The most significant benefit of choosing a general travel rewards card is that all of the mileage rewards earned can be redeemed and easily converted to be used towards any airline of your choice. Unlike reward programs offered by more restrictive airline credit cards, general travel reward cards impose no such airline carrier restrictions. They simply offer cardholders a lot more choice and seating options than having to stick with just one carrier.

However, if you frequently fly on one specific airline or collection of partner airlines, and foresee yourself doing the bulk of your future traveling with the same carrier, applying for a specific airline credit card may be beneficial. Airline specific cards tend to offer higher mileage reward rates for card purchases, and lower redemption requirements for free flights on their own planes. Specific airline cards also frequently offer cardholders the chance to earn double miles for certain qualified purchases, thus helping speed up the rate at which you can earn travel rewards. Airline credit cards also tend to lavish their customers with more travel perks than that offered by general travel reward programs – such perks often include car rental discounts and other exclusive business lounge type accommodations. Just something to keep in mind.

While the following are credit card offers that earn airline miles for ordinary purchases, those who wish to earn instant airline miles for free flights should take a look at this list (free airline miles credit card sign up offers).

The Best Non-Airline Specific Travel Reward Credit Card Offers – Miles Can Be Redeemed For Free Flights Towards Any Airline Carrier – (All annual fees if any are listed in parenthesis).

1. Chase Sapphire - 10,000 bonus points after the first purchase. You also earn 1 point for every dollar you spend and 2x points on all airfare booked through the Travel Booking Tool. Up to 10 bonus points per dollar when you shop online at the Ultimate Rewards Mall. No annual fee. There are no blackout dates or travel restrictions when you use your points for airline tickets on most major airlines, any class. You can also purchase flights with both point and dollar values so you can choose how many points you want to use and pay for the rest in cash.
2. Miles by Discover Card – Earn Double Miles on travel and restaurant purchases. One Mile for every dollar on all other purchases. Flexible redemption options for travel, gift cards, or cash  (No Annual Fee).
3. Citi Premier Pass Card-Elite Level - Earn 2 points for every $1 spent at gas stations, supermarkets and drugstores, plus earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases. You can also earn 1 point for every mile you fly on any airline and another 1 Thank You point for every mile flown by anyone else whose ticket you bought with your card. Currently you can earn 20,000 instant bonus points after $600 in purchases in 3 months. You can redeem for free airline travel on any airline with no carrier restriction or blackout dates. Points don’t expire as long as you make one purchase every three years. (Annual fee is $75).
4. American Express Preferred Rewards Green Card – Earn 1 point for every dollar purchase you spend on the card. Points can be redeemed for free travel rewards from 21 airlines, hundreds of hotels worldwide, for vacation packages, cruises, and spa retreats. They can also be transferred onto 17 frequent flyer programs (conversion rate of 1 point for 1 airline mile with most programs). The earned points have no expiration and there is no limit to the number of points that can be accrued. Currently you can earn 5,000 Membership Rewards bonus points after your first purchase with the card, redeemable for a $50 gift card. This is a no pre-set spending limit card offer. (No annual fee for the first year – $95 thereafter).
5. Blue Sky From American Express® - Earn 1 point for every dollar you spend. There are no blackout dates, no travel restrictions, no mileage caps, and no expiration dates. You can redeem points to save on any airline, hotel, rental car or cruise – the card program is very flexible. (No annual fee).
6. American Express Starwood Preferred® – Earn 1 Starpoint for every dollar of eligible spending and double Starpoints at participating Starwood properties and retail outlets. This one is actually one of my best airline rewards card due to its flexibility and ability to transfer miles onto frequent flyer programs. Currently you can earn up to 25,000 Starpoints upon card sign up and after a period of usage – enough for 6 free nights at a category 1 or 2 hotel. Basically, it breaks down as 10,000 Starpoints with your first purchase – enough for up to 3 free nights at a category 1 or 2 hotel. (No annual fee for the first year – $45 fee thereafter).
7. Capital One® Orbitz Visa Platinum Card and Capital One® Orbitz Visa Signature Card – With either of these high credit limit cards, cardholders can earn 3 points per $1 spent on eligible Orbitz bookings, plus bonus points on eligible bookings, as well as 1 point per $1 spent on regular purchases. The Orbitz card series from Cap One earns more than other travel cards with three times the rewards on eligible Orbitz bookings. Points can be redeemed for travel, cash back, and gift cards. With the Orbitz card, you can potentially fly for free on your next vacation for as few as 15,000 points.
8. Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Ultra For Professionals – Earn 2 miles for each dollar spent on all purchases. No blackout dates or seating restrictions. No expiration date on miles and no limit on the miles that may be earned. (Annual fee: $39).
9. Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards – Earn 1.25 miles for each dollar spent on purchases. No blackout dates or seating restrictions. No expiration date on miles and no limit on the miles you can earn. (No annual fee).

The Best Airline Specific Reward Credit Card Offers For Those Who Are Frequent Flyers Of Particular Airline Carriers – Remember that these airline miles are usually only good towards their own carrier:

1. Delta Airlines – SkyMiles® Gold Card From American Express - You are permitted a very high annual spending limit of $100,000 for mile earning purposes. Miles do not expire as long as the linked frequent flyer account is active during a 3-year period. Currently after your first purchase you earn an instant 20,000 bonus miles reward. Free Delta flights start at just 10,000 miles. In addition, if you add two additional approved card members to your account at the time of application submission, the program will provide you an extra bonus of 2,500 airline miles. (No annual fee for the first year – $95 fee thereafter).
2. Platinum Delta SkyMiles(R) Credit Card from American Express - Earn 20,000 bonus SkyMiles(R) (including 5,000 Medallion Qualification Miles) after first purchase and another 2,500 for adding an Additional Cardmember. Earn one companion Coach Class ticket each year upon renewal. Earn at least 1 mile for every eligible dollar spent. Miles never expire and there is no cap on the miles you can earn. Pay with Miles: Pay for all or part of your flight with miles – and put the rest on your Card. (Annual fee is $150 a year).
3. American Airlines – Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage® World Master Card – Earn 1 AAdvantage ® mile for every $1 spent on purchases. There are no blackout dates for travel on American Airline carriers and your miles never expire. You can redeem miles for travel on American Airlines and for free flights on 25 other airlines as well as rewards for car rental and hotel stays. Currently you can earn 25,000 American Airlines AAdvantage ® instant bonus miles after you make $750 in purchases within 4 months of becoming a card member – enough for a travel award. This is a no pre-set spending limit card offer. (No annual fee for the first year – $85 thereafter).

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 would park themselves in partially hidden locations throughout the shopping center parking lot, embed themselves among the other cars, and lie in wait for subway commuters to improperly park their cars and walk away. Oftentimes as I walked by their tow trucks, I could see the drivers eating their breakfast sandwiches behind the steering wheel as they waited. As soon as the commuters had walked out of sight and demonstrated that they weren’t parking their cars so they could shop at a plaza store, the tow trucks would take turns swooping in, jacking up each vehicle one by one, and speeding away with their precious cargo like a thief in the night – racking up an instant $150 towing fee for each car, plus an extra $25 per day service charge for the cost of daily impounding. What a lucrative but conniving racket.

The livelihood of tow truck drivers is based on their ability to successfully hide in the bushes with their getaway vehicles and lie in wait for hapless drivers to make a parking mistake or slip up. In their eyes, a breach is a breach – if you park past a certain white line, that means you’re going to get towed – there’s little mercy. When that happens, it’s almost a given that at least one tow truck vulture will pop out from the shadows and holler “Gotcha!” as he gleefully impounds your vehicle with cranes and hauls it away to the junkyard. I don’t really care much for their self righteous claims that they are simply doing their jobs. They purport to follow the law and abide by no parking signs, but the reality is that oftentimes these warnings signs are not always sufficiently clear, evident, or easily understandable. The whole towing business is absolutely ripe for unchecked, unaccountable, and abusive practices.

A&E’s Parking Wars Reality Television Show Tries To Humanize The Entertaining Lives Of Tow Truck Drivers, Car Booters, and Meter Maids – But They Still Come Off As Jerks, Albeit Funny Jerks

I guess the world of reality TV shows has finally come down to this – an entire show devoted to the people we all love to hate. Yes, they get yelled at, cursed at, bird flipped, and harassed, but apparently they have feelings too as well as stories to tell. The A&E Channel has released a not-so-new anymore show called Parking Wars that follows the daily working lives of parking meter maids, tow truck drivers, and grunts who make a living from slapping indestructible boots onto vehicle wheels. For those who’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to work on the seedy side of the parking business, this show does a good job of telling it like it is – through the daily lenses of the ticketers and the towers.

While the show infuses the parking meter maids and tow truck drivers with some personality and offers a glimpse into their gritty service with a smile lifestyle, they still come off as predatory and opportunistic hounds who howl with delight when they successfully snag and trap a potential victim – a person who probably was simply at the wrong spot at the wrong time. It’s clear these vultures get a kick from handing out tickets and I’m sure they feel a rush of superior adrenaline when they get to flex their powerful authority by taking away some one’s valuable vehicular possession. Street signs confusing or yellow no parking lines not easily apparent? Tough luck! Ticket and tow, and ask questions later – for they are the law. After all, what is the ordinary layperson going to do – spend thousands of hopeless dollars and file a lawsuit over a $200 towing charge or a $300 booted car fee?

In an episode of Parking Wars, the camera trailed one particular meter maid as she ducked behind a building corner and waited for the right opportunity to pounce – taking a few moments to bask in the inquisitive glory of the A&E camera crew. It was 3:55 p.m. on a weekday and she was waiting near a downtown city street that was close to rush hour time. According to warning signs, street parking was prohibited at the start of rush hour, designated at 4:00 p.m. The parking girl chatted away about how much of a rush she got from ticketing people and the excitement of giving them out. As soon as her watch ticked 4:00 p.m., she eagerly dashed out to begin her ticketing raid, working her way from one side of the street and down the row of parked cars that were now illegally parked on the street. In the distance the camera crew could see a few worried drivers run towards their vehicles, trying to beat the parking violation clock. Some successfully ducked into their vehicles and drove off before their cars were ticketed while others beat it only by a few minutes. One driver who received a ticket only a few seconds before he arrived back protested. However, the parking meter maid was unrelenting and refused to rescind tickets already written.

In one case we had two individuals who verbally protested their ticket concerns to the meter maid over a broken and easily missed no parking sign that was literally dangling upside down. However, their complaints fell on deaf ears as the quota driven ticketing attendant offered no sympathy. Those drivers who parked in the spot guarded by the upside down, broken sign perhaps had a very legitimate lack of proper notice defense. A reasonable driver would not have been able to read the signs as they may not have been readily apparent to a reasonable person. I recently experienced a similar parking ticket scenario. I received a small parking ticket in a neighborhood where there were no visible signs denoting the side street I was parked on as restricted parking. While there were signs elsewhere, there were none readily apparent where I had parked. Luckily I had my digital camera on me at the time, which I used to take photographs of my parked vehicle and the surrounding signs and street shots to prove my case. However, other people are not always as fortunate and most are at the authoritative whims and mercy of parking ticketers.

It’s A Rude And Dirty Job But Somebody Has To Do It… I Suppose

Yes they are financial predators that profit from the absent-mindedness of hapless drivers but I suppose they do serve a legitimate societal purpose. None of them are ever going to win a popularity contest but on some level I suppose they are just dutifully doing their job. After all, some do come to our rescue and save drivers who are stuck in a ditch or have a flat tire on the side of the road, and I’m sure some do a great job of clearing away road blockages and making our highways and local streets more passable. A tow truck did come to my rescue when I spun off the icy highway and into a ditch in upstate New York during one particularly bad winter storm last year. Occasionally, commendable credit is due.

But my biggest concern with the parking authority is that oftentimes, drivers are powerless to protect themselves against improper tows, unfair tickets, or even against scrape and scratch damages to our vehicles caused by improper and negligent towing techniques. Oftentimes it’s simply your word against theirs. I suppose the only real solution is to just stay out of their way if possible. Follow street signs to the letter, timely feed the meters, and don’t park in a spot if you have any doubts. That way, none of us will ever have to learn our parking lessons the hard way and find ourselves as entertaining sideshow victims on Parking Wars.

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 without a hitch requires a scrutinizing eye for fine print detail, adherence to deadlines, willingness to make timely minimum payments, and the ability to follow directions carefully. Once you increase your financial knowledge and understand how the balance transfer process works, you won’t find this credit card perk so daunting or prohibitive.

The versatility of 0% balance transfer credit cards stem from the promotional teaser rates that many of them offer to new card holders. Most standard credit cards charge an interest penalty that compounds and add to the cumulative amount owed when you don’t pay off your balance in full every month. However, most major credit card issuers are willing to waive that initial interest fee for up to a year or more just to entice your patronage and earn some new business. Because credit card companies are perpetually locked in fierce competition between each other for new card accounts, they are willing to offer tremendous promotions and introductory teaser rates to attract the attention of consumers like you and I. The credit card racket (I mean business) is worth a significant amount of money to the credit card companies and they are willing to dangle giant tasty carrots in front of consumers, even if it means providing 0% APR offers for balance transfers lasting up to a year or more. As part of their never ending marketing efforts, credit card companies frequently mail promotional offers out to select consumers with good credit scores. However, as an Internet-oriented person who likes to comparison shop online, I prefer to select and choose the most appropriate 0% balance transfer card for myself.

What Is A Credit Card Balance Transfer, and How Do People Pay Down Debt And Make Money From Balance Transfer Arbitrage?

A balance transfer is the process of shifting credit card debt from one credit card to a newer one offering better terms and interest rates. Balance transfer credit cards contain several conditions and terms that all cardholders most pay attention to when evaluating offers – the promotional or introductory teaser interest rate, the duration of the promotional period, and the balance transfer transaction fee.

The introductory Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is the interest rate offered and the primary attraction of these balance transfer cards. These 0% grace periods give consumers access to reliable and interest free loans for a certain duration, allowing themselves or their business the time to reduce their debt or earn a profit. Different credit cards offer different types of promotional interest rates for different purposes. Some credit cards offer introductory 0% APR periods for all purchases in lieu of balance transfers, while other cards stick to just offering zero balance transfers. Individual terms do vary depending on the specific card issuer. Some balance transfer cards require all transferred balances to be made at the time of the initial card application. Others provide a window of up to 3 months, allowing all new balance transfers made during that time range to qualify for the 0% teaser rate.

As for balance transfer fees and duration, there is always a trade off between these two. Balance transfer credit cards with balance transfer fees usually offer longer promotional durations, while cards that waive the fee usually have shorter durations. The balance transfer fee is the onetime initial transaction fee (usually 3%, occasionally capped) that is levied by some credit card issuers as a percentage of the credit card balance being transferred. Not all credit card issuers impose this fee and some waive it for promotional reasons. Most balance transfer offers that do not charge the one time balance transfer fee usually have shorter promotional durations of 6-12 months. Offers that do charge a fee usually last longer – up to 12 months or more. However, oftentimes while balance transfer fees tend to be around 3%, many have maximum caps of around $75. Because there is a maximum fee limit, if you’re looking to transfer a large balance ($5,000-$10,000 for example), the one time fee shouldn’t be too significant of a deterrent in light of the huge amount of money you’ll save by not having to pay interest on your credit card balances.

In general, the primary incentive and objective for most balance transfer credit card seekers is to find a balance transfer offer with the lowest interest rate (preferably zero percent), with the longest duration (6 months or more), with the lowest balance transfer fee possible (preferably none). However, if you are looking for a long term balance transfer, paying a one time capped 3% fee as a trade off may be worth getting the longer duration.

What You Should Look For In a Balance Transfer Card Will Vary Depending On What You Are Looking To Do:

1. Pay Off Short Term Credit Card Debt – For those who are financially cash strapped or in need of a quick short term loan to pay down their credit card bills, no balance transfer fee credit cards for 6 months or more work the best. The 0% APR interest gives you a window of time to avoid paying any interest while you gather your finances to pay down your debt. No fee balance transfers will usually indicate that the fee is waived in the promotional written material, or in the tiny terms and conditions it’ll state something like “There is a balance transfer fee of 3% with a $5 minimum” but “There is no fee with the 0.00% APR balance transfer offer described above.” You can think of no fee balance transfers as a short term safety net for times when you really need them. I’ve personally used these offers before during times when I had short term cash shortages but faced emergency expenses such as expensive car repairs or tax bills. Of course, my intention was always to pay off the credit card debt in a few months.
2. Pay Down Long Term Credit Card Debt – For those with a lot of credit card debt or are struggling with monthly credit card payments, they should seek out extended 0% balance transfer offers that provide a longer grace period. Credit cards that offer 0% APR for 12 months or more are the most ideal for those looking to avoid paying interest while they slowly pay down debt. Most of the 12 month balance transfer cards do impose a standard 3% fee, but some offers cap it at somewhere between $75 and $100. If you are looking to transfer a high credit card balance or need extra time to pay off your debt, the one time upfront fee is probably worth the cost of securing a long term deal. Now if you really have a lot of credit card debt in excess of $10,000, you may want to apply for multiple balance transfer offers or you may even need to seriously consider a balance transfer for life card. Lifetime balance transfer credit cards rarely provide a 0% interest rate, but they do allow you to lock in a low fixed interest rate for the life of the balance. While you’ll still have to pay a little bit of interest, the advantage is that there is no year end deadline that you have to pay everything off, as the fixed rate stays in place until the balance is paid off.
3. Make Money From Credit Card Arbitrage – Those looking to make money from balance transfer arbitrage should seek out 0% balance transfer credit cards that waive all balance transfer fees as well. The key to making money from what some people commonly refer to as the App-O-Rama is to limit your transaction charges as much as you can to maximize the free loan money you can take advantage of. The concept of arbitrage is to take advantage of inefficient price differentials in two or more markets and to profit from this imbalance. As long as you can obtain free balance transfer money from introductory credit card offers, you can take advantage of this free loan money by investing the balance in high yield online bank accounts and earn arbitrage profit. Of course, naturally you’ll want as long of a duration as possible, but keep mind that many 0% balance transfer no fee cards are limited to only 6 month periods – 12 months cards are getting harder to find these days.

Here Is How You Perform A Balance Transfer and Successfully Profit From Credit Card Arbitrage (10 Step Guide):

Before you even think about applying for a 0% credit card offer or starting a balance transfer, you must read and be aware of common balance transfer mistakes and pitfalls. You must understand that balance transfers do not last forever and that they operate within specific time frames. After introductory teaser rate periods expire, balance transfer cards usually automatically reset to much higher interest rate levels. Also keep in mind that there are important differences between cash advances and balance transfers. You want to seek out the balance transfers, not the cash advances that are oftentimes not covered under these introductory offers. Here is what you’ll need to do to make a balance transfer:

1) Educate Yourself About Balance Transfers and Credit Cards – Before you transfer a balance, you need to know how the process works by understanding the terminology, the timetables, the promotion deadlines, as well as the risks and benefits. Be aware of all these things as you start the process.

2) Know Your Credit Score – Request your official free credit report and your free FICO credit score to evaluate your credit worthiness in the eyes of credit card companies. Balance transfer credit cards usually require above average credit scores so you must check to see whether you qualify for such offers to begin with. Obviously if your credit score is terrible, your chances of qualifying for one are probably slim.

3) Decide How Much Balance Transfer You’ll Need – Evaluate the amount of outstanding high interest credit card debt you have (if any) that you may want to transfer over to a balance transfer card offering 0% APR or a low fixed interest rate. Decide on the amount of 0% credit limit that you will need to handle your transferred balance. You should be aware that you have little control over how much credit card limit your new balance transfer card will offer you. If you have a stellar credit score and clean history of timely card payments, you are likely to get a much higher limit in the range of $5,000-10,000 when you open a new credit card account (business credit cards offer even higher limits). If your credit score is only average, you may only get a credit card limit of $5,000. This may determine whether you will need to apply for multiple offers or not.

Now if you have no actual high interest card balance to transfer but instead are looking to make money from balance transfers, you’ll need to decide how much interest free loans you would like to take on. Obviously the higher total 0% APR credit limit you have, the more zero percent balance transfer money you can withdraw and invest in a high yield savings account to earn credit card arbitrage profit.

4) Scout, Examine, and Evaluate All Potential Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers – Currently, there are three major types of 0% balance transfer credit cards. There is the long term low interest lifetime balance transfer card which is suited best for those looking to carry an unpaid balance for a year or more. There is the 0% balance transfer card that has an upfront balance transfer fee that charges a percentage of your total transferred balance amount as a processing fee (usually 3%). And finally, there is the 0% balance transfer no fee offer.

As discussed above, you should choose your type of balance transfer offer based on what you intend to accomplish. No fee balance transfer cards are the best because they charge no upfront fees and still enjoy the 0% APR rate for the duration of the promotional period. Unfortunately, their promotional and introductory periods are usually shorter than cards that impose a one time balance transfer charge. 0% cards with balance transfer fees usually have promo periods of 12 months or more. No balance transfer fee cards typically only last for 6 months. There are some 12 month no balance transfer fee offers, but they are rare.

5) Apply For the Balance Transfer Card Of Your Choice – After you’ve decided on which category of balance transfers best fits your financial purpose and situation, you should apply from a list of balance transfer offers. While those with low levels of credit card debt may choose to apply for only one card, some people opt or require multiple balance transfer cards to handle the size of their balances. If that is the case, you should decide whether you will be better suited applying for more than one card. When you are asked on the online card application how much you wish to transfer, you should always ask for as much as possible, up to the amount needed to suit your purpose. Since you can’t predict what your new credit card limit will actually be, it’s best to request as high (double or triple) of a balance transfer as possible. It’s better to be denied for a high balance transfer than to request too little.

You should be aware that every credit card application you make is considered a hard credit check that makes a temporary, but negative hit on your credit score due to the fact you are seeking credit. While credit scores almost always recover once all balances are later paid off, you can minimize the hit by keeping multiple credit card openings to within a short period of time. Rapid credit checks in succession are oftentimes treated as a single inquiry in the eyes of credit reporting companies. Keep in mind that certain card issuers such as Citibank limit the total number of credit cards you are permitted to own under their brand. Thus, if you already own multiple Citi Cards for example, Citibank may ask you to reduce the credit limits of your other cards and shift the excised credit limit to your new balance transfer card.

6) Transfer The Balance From Your Old Card To Your New 0% Promotional Rate Card (Requires Multiple Cards) - This is generally regarded as the indirect method of balance transfer as it actually requires you to have another credit card other than the one you are applying for. It’s the recommended method for those with credit card debt that needs to be shifted to the new card, and for those looking to pay down credit card debt. When your credit card application prompts you to do so, you must provide the account number information of your old credit card that you want to transfer from and the amount you want to transfer. The process may take a few days or a few weeks but the new 0% credit card you are applying for effectively sends the requested amount as an automatic payment applied to your old credit card balance. By doing so, the old debt will now appear as a liability balance on the new card, albeit enjoying the new introductory 0% teaser rate. Meanwhile on the old card, the balance will presumably have been paid off, so the balance should now be zero.

For those looking to make money from balance transfer arbitrage, the money transfer procedure will still require an old or secondary credit card for the indirect balance transfer process to work. Upon request pursuant to your instructions at the time of application or later on, your 0% card will send payment to the old card for the amount you request. If the old credit card already contains a zero balance, what will result is a negative credit balance on your old card as a result of the payment. This negative credit balance on the old card is essentially now an overpayment that you can withdraw and do as you wish, and the balance is now owed on the new 0% credit card you opened. For most credit card issuers like Citibank, Chase, Discover Card, and American Express, you can simply either request an online credit refund online via ACH transfer, or if the online refund option is not offered, you can simply request a credit refund check for the amount of overpayment. Citibank offers the most convenient credit balance refund since everything can be easily done via your online account.

Depending on the individual card offers, you may be required to make the balance transfer at the time you apply for the credit card to qualify the balance for the special promotional 0% rate. Other offers permit you to make as many qualifying balance transfers as you wish within a few months of opening the card. Make sure you follow the specific terms carefully.

7) If The Option Is Available, You May Request A Balance Transfer Check Instead (Multiple Cards Not Needed) - If your purpose of applying for 0% balance transfer credit cards is to make money from interest free credit card loans, you likely have no other actual credit card debt to transfer to this new 0% rate card. Some credit card issuers may allow you to conveniently request and issue yourself a balance transfer check for the full amount that you wish to transfer. Some card issuers will send a paper check to you while others will offer you the option to deposit the balance transfer amount into a bank account via the routing and account number provided. Whether via paper check or online payment, if the option to receive the balance transfer payment without needing a secondary credit card is offered, you should take this direct method – it’s a lot more convenient and hassle free. By depositing the requested balance transfer check into your bank account or sending the check over to another credit card issuer as payment, the check amount effectively transfers money to the target account, thereby resulting in an owed balance on the new 0% balance transfer card.

If your goal and purpose is to make interest free money from 0% credit cards, you should quickly deposit the amounts into your choice of high interest savings accounts. Whatever you do, do not even think of putting the money into the stock market. I know it is tempting to have all the interest free money, but the stock market is too unpredictable and risky for credit card arbitrage purposes. Be smart and stick with high yield bank accounts – don’t gamble your financial life away.

8) Remember To Pay Your Balance Transfer Credit Card’s Monthly Minimum Balance On Time - To avoid violating balance transfer rules, you’ll need to at the very least remember to make your monthly minimum payments. What I personally do is set up automatic monthly electronic payments through my bank checking account and set up online payment alerts. The process usually takes a month to set up but once it is put in place, there is less of a worry that you’ll forget to make your monthly minimum payments. Of course, you’ll need to make sure you always have sufficient money in your bank account if you intend to install automatic debit payments. Making your monthly payments is incredibly important because a single violation of your credit card terms will cause a terrible balance transfer disaster, triggering your 0% promotional period to be canceled and reset to the standard high credit card rates. Be smart and diligent when it comes to this. Following balance transfer rules is serious business.

Some people recommend making regular payments in excess of the minimum requirement towards the credit card balance throughout the year rather than waiting until the very end to make a huge payment. Obviously this makes a lot of sense (and cents) and is the correct course of action for those who sought the 0% offer to help them ease the interest rate pain of paying down credit card debt. But for those looking to make money from balance transfers this sort of defeats the whole purpose of balance transfer arbitrage. To make money from balance transfers, you want to leave as much 0% loan money in your interest generating bank account for as long as possible. Thus, unless your balance transfer purpose was to pay down debt and not to make money from credit card arbitrage, other than pulling money out to pay off your monthly minimum payments as needed, you probably should wait until a few weeks before the end of the 0% balance transfer promotional period before paying everything back in one large chunk.

9) Pay Off The Balance Transfer In Full Before It Expires - The moment you put the 0% balance transfer period into effect, you must find out the exact calendar date that the promotional period expires. This is terribly important – find out the exact expiration date and verify to make sure. Record this date on your calendar or set online reminders to alert you when the 0% period is up. Personally I use my Yahoo email calendar alert function to send me email reminders a month and a week before important dates.

While fixed interest rate balance transfers have no time limit, I want to reiterate that 0% balance transfers on the other hand do not last forever. At the 6 month or 1 year mark when the promotional period expires, your 0% credit card rate will suddenly reset to the standard high interest levels (APR as high as 15-20%). If you have any unpaid balance at that point, the entire balance transfer will become due with devastating interest rates imposed. Your imperative goal should be to pay back the entire amount in full before expiration. If you borrowed a lot of interest free credit money, you will have to pay back quite a hefty sum, so keep this in mind. If your goal was to make money from balance transfers, I presume you have wisely invested the money into high yield bank accounts, earning free interest money. At the end of the balance transfer period you should withdrawal the entire remaining amount from your savings account or money market fund and pay off the entire credit card balance.

10) What To Do With Credit Cards That Have Exhausted Their 0% Introductory Periods – After you pay off your credit card balance, your credit score will recover. As for the credit card that’s exhausted its promotional period, there is no sense in cancelling it really. Because total credit limit available is a positive component of calculating FICO credit scores, canceling the card will only reduce your overall credit limit available, thereby hurting your score further. I recommend not cancelling any cards. If the card offers credit card rewards for purchases, you may consider adding it to your wallet of reward credit cards to use on a regular basis. Of course, if you have no intention of using it ever, you may simply want to put it away in a safe place.