The Top 6 Weirdest Credit Card Stories
Posted July 16th, 2009
People suffering from carrying monthly credit card balances like to claim they’re in heavy credit card debt.
For those who think they are, the following stories may make you feel like you’re a lot better off than you think you are.
Some credit card debt stories are scenarios which are hard to avoid, such as paying off medical expenses and keeping your business afloat. These however, will simply make you shake your head in confusion and disbelief.
#6 – Priest uses Church Credit Card to Rack up $20,000 on Himself
Excessive credit card debt is bad alone. A priest using the church’s funds for himself is bad. The un-named member of the church had to repay $22,250 from his own funds.
Let’s hope he has enough time left on earth to grace the coffers of his debt collectors before he graces the judgement of his god.
#5 – Woman Accumulates $150,000 of Debt on Flowers and Starbucks
An American woman who appeared on Oprah stated she had amassed $150,000 of credit card debt, despite only having an annual income of $75,000.
She stated that some of her biggest ongoing costs was ‘$500 a month on coffee and $6000 on synthetic flowers to decorate the home’.
#4 – Homeless People are Richer than Those with Credit Cards
An insight written by a man who claimed that because he has a mortgage, car loans, school loans and credit card balances, he effectively has $180,000 of debt in comparison to a homeless person who has nothing.
By comparing assetts vs liabilities, many of us may actually appear poorer than those living on the streets. The article by Dwight Black can be read here.
#3 – Taxi Driver Tries to Guess Pin Code 50 Times to Cash Advance on Stolen Card
There are clever criminals, and there are outright stupid criminals. A UK man was convincted for over 3 years in prison after he stole his customer’s credit cards from their home after he dropped them off.
Fair enough, he wins criminal points for managing to successfully steal the cards. He could’ve went on an online shopping spree, forged some signatures or pay over the phone.
Instead, he decided to test his luck by trying to guess the credit card pin code 50 times to cash advance as much money as possible. His 50 attempts equalled a 0.50% chance that he guessed the correct pin code out of 10,000 possible combinations.
#2 – “I Freeze my Credit Cards to Stop Myself Spending”
This woman doesn’t call her credit card company to freeze her credit card accounts.
She freezes her credit card. In a bowl of water, in the freezer. But not just any freezer as well – to stop impulse spending, she takes it a step further by keeping the card at her boyfriend’s place.
She claims that if she really needs to buy something, she’ll have to go through the effort of thawing out her cards. Otherwise, she would be too impatient to wait for her card to melt for a spontaneous purchase. Read the MoneyNing article here.
#1 – Teen Boy Steals Dads Credit Card for $30,000 on Shopping…and Hookers
This story went global fast. It had such an entertaining appeal that major news outlets worldwide published the story as fact, including Australia’s own Daily Telegraph and News.com.au.
The best part of the story was, it was fake. The tale turned out to be a marketing ploy by Money.co.uk – basically a publicity stunt to get more attention. And boy did it work to their favour.
Access the original article from Digg.
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Credit Card Offer Comparison
| Interest Rate (p.a.) | Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.) | Annual Fee | Cash Advance Rate (p.a.) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bankwest Breeze MasterCard | A low interest rate on everyday purchases with a low balance transfer offer | 0% for 4 months (reverts to 11.99% ) | 0% for 6 months | $59 | 21.99% |   |
Citibank Clear Platinum Card | A low interest rate offer on balance transfers and purchases | 0% for 6 months (reverts to 11.99% ) | 0% for 6 months | $49 annual fee for the first year ($99 thereafter) | 21.74% | |
St.George Vertigo | An introductory offer on balance transfer and a low annual fee | 13.24% | 0% for 8 months | $55 | 21.49% | |
Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer Card | Earn 1 velocity point per $1 spent, plus an introductory offer on balance transfers | 20.99% | 2.9% for 6 months | $129 | 20.99% | |
Westpac 55 Day Credit Card | No annul fee for the first year with a low rate on balance transfers and purchases | 0% for 5 months (reverts to 19.59% ) | 0.99% for 9 months with 1% handling fee | $0 annual fee for the first year ($30 thereafter) | 21.49% | |
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