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Home > 10 Financial Urban Legends!

10 Financial Urban Legends!

November 10th, 2006 at 02:46 pm

I read an

Text is article and Link is articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/10FinancialUrbanLegends.aspx
article on
Text is MSN Money and Link is money.msn.com
MSN Money about urban legends. Quite humorous!

Myth No. 1: You can float a check longer if you write in red ink. The theory is that a bank's equipment can't scan red ink, so it takes longer to process the check.

Myth No. 2: You don't have to pay
Text is income tax and Link is www.irs.gov/
income tax -- it's illegal. Only foreign income is subject to Uncle Sam's cut, the story runs, and there's a form you can file to exempt yourself. But no one will tell you about it.

Myth No. 3: I'm under 18, so I can't be held accountable for a debt. (Variation: Credit-card debts are wiped out when you turn 19.) Spring-breakers love to use this one to justify running up a cruise or resort-hotel bill on their credit cards.

Myth No. 4: My hotel key card has my credit-card information. The ramification is that you'd better clutch it tightly or a con will decode it and rack up a big bill.

Myth No. 5: Boycotting a few gasoline brands brings gas prices down. Poor
Text is Exxon and Link is www.exxon.com
Exxon and
Text is Mobil and Link is www.mobil.com
Mobil. They often show up as the bad guys in a mass e-mail urging Americans to avoid their pumps on a particular day.

Myth No. 6: It's better if you don't sign the back of your credit card. Some well-meaning pigeon decided one day this would protect him from identify theft.

Myth No. 7: You can make a pile of dough by helping a foreigner solve his money problems. "Hello, my name is unpronounceable, and I need to get money out of my country. Will you let me use your bank account?" is the gist of this e-mail plea.

Myth No. 8: You can now opt out of having credit bureaus give your information to anyone who asks. Just call
Text is (888) 567-8688 and Link is www.experian.com/preapproved_credit/opting_out.html
(888) 567-8688 and give them the Social Security numbers of everyone in the household in a single call, says the message. But hurry -- you only have 60 days to take advantage of this ability.

Myth No. 9: You can buy your way out of points on a speeding ticket. If you pay a bit more than your fine actually is, the state will send you a refund check for the difference.

Myth No. 10: Hotel
Text is Bibles and Link is www.biblegateway.com
Bibles often have $100 bills tucked into them. Heard the one that
Text is Gideons and Link is www.gideons.org
Gideons leave $100 bills in their hotel
Text is Bibles and Link is www.biblegateway.com
Bibles to reward folks who turn to the
Text is Good Book and Link is www.biblegateway.com
Good Book?


(Read the
Text is full article and Link is articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/10FinancialUrbanLegends.aspx
full article to learn why these are myths).

9 Responses to “10 Financial Urban Legends!”

  1. PRICEPLUS Says:
    1163171766

    You are a an official Myth Buster!Big Grin

  2. Broken Arrow Says:
    1163172192

    Wow, that's some of the craziest urban legends I've ever heard. Hard to believe that there are people out there that believed in any of this stuff.

  3. LuxLiving Says:
    1163173322

    Glad to know I have not been dupped! Smile

  4. janh Says:
    1163175746

    This was really interesting. I enjoyed the rest of the article, too. It's funny what we will believe--like lipstick causes cancer--that one was when I was much younger.

  5. tinapbeana Says:
    1163183838

    "This was really interesting. I enjoyed the rest of the article, too. It's funny what we will believe--like lipstick causes cancer--that one was when I was much younger." wanna know what's funny? lipstick may actually help prevent cancer: women have a lower incidence of lip cancer than men, and some scientists think it's because the opaque pigment in lipstick help screen out more UVA/UVB rays (like wearing zinc oxide for sunscreen). so Price, BA, Bookie: slather up! Big Grin

  6. jersey jen Says:
    1163187781

    * tinapbeana

    yup, you're absolutely right! color in cosmetics usually come from 4 pigments. the white pigment,
    Text is titanium dioxide and Link is en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide
    titanium dioxide, is considered as a sunscreen ingredient. it is effective in uv-b, since only a couple of sunscreen ingredients are effective in uv-a.

  7. Broken Arrow Says:
    1163211374

    so Price, BA, Bookie: slather up!

    The slick response should have been, "I'll just take some off of you, baby." Big Grin

    Unfortunately, my first reaction was, "Woah. Woah! I'll risk cancer thanks."

    Yeeeeah... looks like I'm going to be single for quite some time. Big Grin

  8. PRICEPLUS Says:
    1163219007

    I have a rather large mustache which shades my lips so I need no lipstick thank you!WinkSmile I do use chap stik though!

  9. Golbguru Says:
    1163286632

    This one is my favorite :

    "Just call (888) 567-8688 and give them the Social Security numbers of everyone in the household in a single call, says the message."

    sounds like : "call now and waste your life away and also the lives of all the members in your household" Smile

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