Current Newsletter
Collection & Credit Insights
February 2005
Catch Me If You Can
The newest credit card fraud begins with a very officious telephone call purporting to be your credit card company attempting to verify purchases on your card that may be fraudulent. After lulling you into a false sense of security with badge numbers, the trap is sprung when you give them the three numbers on the back of your credit card.
About a year ago, I met Frank Abagnale who was addressing an economic club luncheon about check fraud and true identity theft. The latter is the fastest rising crime in the country, with some estimated 2,000,000 victims yearly. Well who better to speak about crime than a reformed criminal?
If the name seems vaguely familiar, don’t be surprised. His rare blend of knowledge and expertise began as a teenager. More than thirty-five years ago Frank was known as one of the world's most famous confidence men, as depicted in his best-selling book turned movie, "Catch Me If You Can." He cashed $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in every state and 26 foreign countries over a five-year period. Between the ages of 16 and 21, he successfully posed as an airline pilot, an attorney, a college professor and a pediatrician until his arrest by the French Police.
A handsome grandfatherly looking gent, every bit as convincing today as he was in his youth, only now he has changed teams. Mr. Abagnale has been associated with the FBI for over 25 years. He lectures extensively at the FBI Academy and for the field offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. More than 14,000 financial institutions, corporations and law enforcement agencies use his fraud prevention programs.
So, if you don’t have an extra $1,200 and 175 hours to spare trying to straighten out your credit record after a fraud (an actual estimation calculated by the FTC) visit Mr. Abagnale’s web site for white papers on protecting yourself from true identity fraud and other credit crimes at: http://www.abagnale.com.
Bob Barden
President
Office Location
Ann Arbor Credit Bureau
(734) 665-6173
(800) 710-4821
Upcoming Events
Credit Professionals of Ann Arbor
February 8, 2005
Collections Seminar
March 16, 2005
Call today to pre-register!
Welcome to Our New Clients
- College, LLC
- M.A.C.S.
- Safe Step, LLC
- Dr. Jennifer McFinton
- Thorn Health Center
- Morenci Health Center
- Dr. Barbara VanKainen
- Tom Malloy
- Children's Orchard, Inc.
- Ideal Self Storage
- Chelsea Village Hardware
- Lakes Area Oral Surgery
- Washington Township Fire Department
High Payment of the Month!
High payment honors of the month go to Jon. He collected $4644.00 for a local resort.
Nice job Jon and congratulations!!!
Recovery Skills Seminar
March 16, 2005
Holiday Inn, 3600 Plymouth Rd.
Ann Arbor (734) 769-9800
Collector Workshop
- Negotiation skills
- Collection laws-what governs you when you work your accounts
- How to make your collectors more efficient and effective in their collections
- Discussion on issues and cases which affect specific collection problems
- What’s involved when your account goes to third-party collection litigation
Time is reserved for your special and unique questions to be answered by collection professionals and legal counsel.
Who should attend?
- Supervisors/Managers who want to hone their collection techniques and provide new ideas for A/R staff
- Collectors & A/R representatives
Credit Professionals of AA Meeting
Credit Professionals of Ann Arbor will meet at Weber’s Inn, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005 from 7:30am to 9:00am. The featured speaker will be Diana Gardner, Trust Officer at Ann Arbor Commerce Bank. The topic of discussion will be the importance and benefit of estate planning including trusts, wills and power of attorney. Meeting fee is $10.00. Please contact Rebecca Burk at 734-994-6928 for reservations.
Check Yourself Out
Consumers in Western states on Dec. 1 became the first in the nation to be entitled to free credit reports. The service is rolling out in phases across the country: in the Midwest, March 1, the South on June 1 and the East on Sept. 1.
“If you make your request online, you can view your credit report within minutes,” says Jen Schwartzman of the Federal Trade Commission.
Americans can get such reports, but not credit scores, once a year from each of the big three companies that maintain credit histories. The website www.annualcreditreport.com issues the reports for Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Consumers can also call 877-322-8228 or write to Annual Credit Report Request Service, PO Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281, but these requests take 15 days to process. (A cautionary note: Beware of companies that try to pressure you into buying related financial products or credit reports more frequently.)
AARP Bulletin—January 2005 Fast seminar facts:
- $75 per person
- Workbook/instructional manual
included
- To register, complete this form and mail or fax to:
Ann Arbor Credit Bureau
311 N. Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Fax: 734-669-2119
Call Debbie/Carol at 800-710-4821
for more information!
Company Name
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Your Name
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Address
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City_______________________State___
Zip___________
Phone # ( )_________________
Number of Attendees____________
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Bill Me (Clients only) __________
People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you . . .collect |
