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Founder of credit card swipe machines and software, Robert Carr of Heartland Payment System continues to re-live the shock of being hacked. In late 2007 enterprising hackers made their way into Heartland’s servers and found access to what was estimated to be around 130 million credit card numbers. With that thought in mind Mr. Carr hopes to find a solution to fraudsters hacking into what was thought of as a secure network.

Heartland’s components and software, store and use the 15 digit credit card numbers to verify transactions. This transaction often takes mere seconds to complete but a breach of the system gives a foothold to skeptical investors. The breach that happened to Heartland sent the stock from a solid $18 to sink to around $3.60.

Acting as a virtual middleman, Heartland takes a small percentage of each transaction to process purchases. Dep

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Tags: Payment, Payment Processing

A successful and very lucrative internet scam that has been in progress for about four years now has been busted this week by the United States Federal Trade Commission.  This scam was designed by some savvy internet thieves who utilized a massive fraud network of very small charges across a large number of card holders, resulting in the theft of millions of dollars from unsuspecting consumers across the United States.  This is one of the many scams that have occurred over the last few years.  The credit card industry continues to remain vulnerable to the threat of hackers despite advanced security systems used to protect data.

The Scam

The details of the scam and the specifics of who was behind it have yet to be determined.  What authorities do know is that it has provided a very valuable and expensive lesson about the importance of secure credit card systems and protecting consumers from this type of fraud.

What happened was that the scam artists responsible for the theft found loopholes in the credit card processing systems. The

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Tags: Busted, Busted Ftc

The following post is by Fred from OnlineBanksBlog.com, a personal finance site focused on helping people find the best bank rates.

The number of banking products available today compared to the number available just ten years ago is astounding. Online savings accounts and checking accounts have changed the way consumers bank. Now, with the advent of these online accounts, I find myself wondering whether money market accounts are still relevant.

Money Market Accounts Historically

In times past, most financial advisers have touted the money market savings account (often called an MMA) as the way to save money for the short- or medium-term. These accounts have historically had a higher interest rates than standard savings (or passbook savings) and interest-bearing checking accounts.

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