The credit card and bank account details of Aussies are being targeted by con artists who are calling people offering carbon tax compensation.

An alert from SCAMwatch warned consumers not to pass on the details of their bank accounts if contacted, noting that the federal government will never ask for this information.

According to the body, up to $5,000 is being offered to those who are contacted.

“If you receive a phone call out of the blue asking for your bank account or personal details, or claiming you need to pay money to receive a compensation payment, hang up immediately,” it urged.

SCAMwatch urged Aussies never to provide their personal details over the phone and to be on the alert for any communications claiming to be running a survey on carbon tax.

The organisation said those who want to keep their details secure should avoid get-rich-quick schemes and never pass on sensitive financial data to anyone they do not know or trust.

Yesterday, I wrote about the technique of reconsideration, in order to give people a chance to be approved for a credit card for which they were initially declined. Today, I would like to talk about a similar process I call bumping up your bonus. Suppose you have applied for and received a particular card. You were able to realize a healthy sign up bonus, but wouldn’t you know it, you have since come across an offer for an even better bonus on the same card. Sign up bonuses are a wildly fluctuating aspect of credit card promotions. Like reconsideration, many people are actually able to contact their bank and obtain the higher award.

How Bonuses Work

When someone applies for a credit card, their application contains an offer code. A

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Following Sonys announcement that a security breach may have seen the details of its 77 million PlayStation users exposed by hackers, a man in Adelaide has found that $2,000 has been run up on his plastic.

Rory Spreckly checked his bank on Wednesday April 27th and spotted a number of large transactions that he did not conduct, reports ABC News.

“I logged into my bank account just to check everything was OK and I found out there was just over $2,000 in charges which I didnt personally accrue,” he said.

Sony has stated that there is not yet any firm evidence to indicate that credit card details were taken during the unauthorised accessing of its database.

Commenting on the breach, managing director of IT security company Threatscape Dermot Williams said the fact that Sony has opted to shut down and rebuild its service indicates the potential “scale of data theft”, adding that it could be “very significant”, reported Silicon Republic.

Credit card Q&A: “Are credit cards bad for your credit score?”

In short, no, opening a credit card won’t hurt your credit score, at least not in the long run.

Sure, you may see your credit score get dinged a few points when you apply for a credit card, but this is standard practice when you apply for any type of loan.

Be it a credit card, auto loan, mortgage, or any other type of loan. Essentially, anytime you make a request for new credit, you heighten your credit risk. Don’t confuse this with checking your own credit score, as that doesn’t involve new credit and will not hurt your credit score.

The general thinking is that those in need of credit, whether for good reasons or bad, are less financially healthy than those who don’t need new credit.

It’s a harsh rule, but obviously it’d be pretty darn complicated to make the whole process subjective. And like anythi

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On average, each Aussie with a credit card has $3,321 of debt to pay off, according to figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Data from the central bank showed that across the country, debt incurred on plastic stands at $49.3 billion, reports News.com.au.

It revealed that this represents a 42 per cent increase on the amount owed five years ago.

Debt Relief Australia spokesperson Deborah Southon asserted that the typical family may owe more than the national average, as many have two or more cards.

Those who are struggling to make reduce their debt may want to consider going online to compare credit cards to look for those with an attractive promotional balance transfer interest rates.

Earlier this month, the same news provider reported that Coles is set to trial a system whereby customers can use their credit and debit cards to purchase groceries at drive-through stores.