I had worked in travel/customer service industry for 25 years. I was laid off over two years ago after 9/11. I submitted my resume to countless job postings with no response. Obviously after awhile I was feeling unwanted, useless, and depressed. No job prospects, no money, no direction. I not only needed an income, I needed a purpose, a reason to get up in morning other than cats and bird needed to be fed.

What was I going to do?

The light bulb finally came on in my head and I realized that I had some resources right at home. A computer and internet access. I normally surfed net to shop (shopping mind you, couldn’t afford to buy) and playing computer games to pass time.

I happened upon an opportunity to take surveys online. Sounded easy enough and for a $35.00 investment to access a database of survey sites I could start making some money. I registered with every survey site listed in that database. A tedious task! In two months time a made $102.50 and a $10.00 gift card. I wasn’t going to pay bills with that kind of money. Back to same dilemma!

What was I going to do?

I started searching web for information about working from home. To my amazement there are countless opportunities. Now question was not if I could have my own business but what kind of business did I want? I’m not a salesman! I didn’t want to have to worry about inventory, packaging, shipping, merchant accounts, etc. I had very little money to invest, so my out-of-pocket expenses would have to be low, really low.

Impossible?

Credit card fraud on rise, so you need to treat your card and its information with extreme care.

Here are 10 tips to help insure you're not victim of thieves and fraudsters:

1. Sign new and replacement cards immediately.

2. Destroy old cards by cutting them into pieces and shred all old receipts and bills.

3. Don't fax your credit-card number, if possible. Remember, faxed document could remain in sight at other end for long periods of time.

4. Don't give your card number over phone unless you have initiated call.