A year 8 student was turned in by his mom after a $200,000 criminal spree, selling items he didn’t own on eBay and bilking banks with overdrawn debit card accounts.

The teenager, who cannot be identified due to his current age of 17 years, is currently under investigation by the ASIC. To date, he has served a week of detention for his alleged crimes. read more..

• Credit Card Profile: NAB Low Rate Visa Credit Card http://is.gd/6tthr #
• There are certain situations where it’s a good idea to change your credit card PIN. http://is.gd/6yALw #

Normally having the urge to splurge with your credit card is a bad thing. However, every now and then it’s not a bad idea to buy yourself something new. A shredder, for example, is an excellent and worthwhile expense (and small enough that you can charge it and pay it back quickly without having to pay interest!).

Let’s talk about different kinds of shredders and why you need them:
read more..

The police commissioner of West Australia, Karl O’Callaghan, has promised Aborigines owing sums to a Laverton money lender that they can default without fear of prosecution.

Sam Tomarchio seems to run the only bank in Laverton, a one-man show for lending money at interest rates of 30–50% to his mainly Centrelink-dependent clients. His operation is above the law, however, he controls some of his clients’ finances, keeping their credit and debit cards and PIN numbers. He loans between $3,000 and $5,000 each day, and he’s admitted that, if his clients refuse to pay their outstanding loans, he’s out about $100,000. read more..

Two of the world’s major credit card companies have volunteered to waive merchant transaction fees for donations made to charities seeking to aid Haiti.

American Express, the first to announce this new policy, said in a statement that they would “rebate the merchant discount rate for charitable contributions” made via their credit cards to recognised non-profit organisations aiding Haitian relief efforts. The company also announced a US$250,000 donation of their own, going to associations including the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. read more..