Enterprise
Cleveland-area debit card fraud cases possible in part because photo IDs aren’t mandatory
Thieves cleaned out Santo and Jill Berardi’s Charter One checking account during a shopping spree that lasted six days and racked up $4,612 in purchases at more than a dozen stores.
“Here’s my question: Why didn’t anyone ever ask for the person’s ID?” said Santo Berardi, 52, of Middleburg Heights. “Why is it, when you’re anywhere around here, nobody ever asks for my ID? I think it’s a bunch of bull.”
The reason no one requires Berardi to show his ID is they can’t. The credit card companies say merchants can ask for photo identification, but they can’t require it.
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Consumers starting to shy away from debit and credit cards, moving back to cash
Americans’ love affair with credit and debit cards may be coming to an end, which means cash could soon be king again.
It’s been a decade since fast-food restaurants started accepting credit and debit cards, and consumers started swiping plastic more often than they were writing checks.
It had gotten to the point where many of us marveled at how little cash we carried.
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Tax refunds could be delayed until March in future years to combat fraud
An average of $1.5 billion a year is given to thieves who file fraudulent federal income tax returns.
It’s possible, largely, because the IRS generally doesn’t compare information on returns to actual W-2s, 1099s and other forms before issuing huge refunds.
Why not?
Two big reasons: First, the IRS isn’t required to do it. Second, it feels so pressured to issue refunds as soon as possible — often within days of receipt — that it doesn’t wait to check information on a return.
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Randy Lerner’s First Steps: Personable yet private, son is thrust into leadership of MBNA credit cards, Cleveland Browns
It has been only four months since Randy Lerner’s father, Al, died after an 18-month battle with brain cancer. Randy is now the Browns’ owner, the second-youngest in the NFL. He turned 41 a week ago.
Al Lerner’s only son is the head of the family trust that owns the team and is ultimately responsible for its future. And he’s now chairman of MBNA Corp., the 28,000-employee credit-card giant his father helped create.
Randy Lerner is described as a gifted businessman and lawyer who grew up watching his father build from scratch a $4 billion fortune. At the same time, Randy is described as a guy-next-door father and husband who met his wife on a blind date. He loves to plow his 15-acre farm and watch “Toy Story” with his kids. He nearly knocks people over with big hugs after Browns victories. He calls his mom every day.
He may be the most normal, truly likable son of a billionaire you could ever meet.
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KeyCorp’s Beth Mooney opens up about being demanding, disorganized and deeply in love with Cleveland
Many people know that Beth Mooney, who becomes KeyCorp’s top-ranking executive on May 1, is well regarded in the banking industry nationwide.
But there are other sides of Mooney that are lesser known: She hates to cook but can set a dinner table that rivals any five-star restaurant. She loves singing loudly in the car to Bruce Springsteen, the Temptations and the Rolling Stones, and she enjoys golfing and going to the beach with a bag of mindless fiction.
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