The Great Credit Card Scam: Financial Wisdom for a Prosperous Life

By Art Gandara

Art Gandara's Great Credit Card Scam is a financial missile of truth and light sent out to release consumers living as captives in the credit card debt camp. It also has the intention to detonate and blast out the endless, crooked, and deceptive principles that make up a devious industry that has enslaved countless hurting victims into modern-day financial slavery.

Art is a Certified Financial Education Instructor who with, exceptional empathy and compassion, drives his point home to empower those hungry to grow in their personal finances and knowledge. He says that his mission is to untie the complicated knots of the rope of life and offer to every human being his loving contribution to encourage, uplift, touch, move and inspire them towards their own success.

For the cost of less than a credit card late fee, every reader deserves to invest in this opportunity, to experience this unique reading journey that, undoubtedly, will become a guidance tool to live a peaceful, happy, and fulfilled life of prosperity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667871226

Book preview

FOREWORD

This is America, home of those who have and those from whom it is taken. A crisis ranges through the back end of our financial system. The back end is the repayment of debts by consumers. The issues arise from our development of consumerism, the ease of purchase in the digital age, and the court systems that allow families to be pushed into poverty. Financial institutions have become corrupt with no regard for the human cost.

The never-ending desire to drive stock prices up has caused lenders to target those least able to pay, those largely undereducated about financial products. It creates a high risk of default that drives predatory rates and a legal system unequipped to handle the resulting volume of civil litigation. It also creates a fractured regulatory framework that varies from state to state.

The system of debt accumulation and default and its real-life consequences for U.S. families has birthed a financial caste system. This is America, and we are broke.

The constant disempowering I’m broke feeling

I must throw out some disclaimers: I am not an economist or a regulator. I have no financial licensing whatsoever, nor am I an attorney. I am an American consumer just like you. Before I began my informal education in the space of economic hardship, specifically related to unsecured debt, I had no hint of the crisis ravaging families across the U. S., families just like mine. It’s easy to find statistics on the emotional stress created by financial hardship and its consequences such as divorce, abuse, and suicide. We rarely consider the smaller ripples moving through those affected. I refer to it as a filter or state of mind of I’m broke!

Our emotional state often changes how we interpret the world. When we are broke, it narrows the scope of what we can focus on. We go into survival mode. It’s that feeling in our stomach when we are trying to fall asleep, that constant tension. That filter does damage to a significant number of us. It limits opportunities and generally pushes people away from us because we are always unsettled. The good news is, it’s not your fault. The bad news is, the system is rigged.

Two vital questions

We must start by asking two questions. First, what is the average financial literacy of U.S. consumers? Second, what is the average financial literacy of financiers? We receive little to no formal financial education. At best, we have people in our family who have responsible spending habits, live within their means, and save for the future. Of the many people I have talked to about their financial knowledge, not one has explained how an annual percentage rate (APR) is calculated on their credit cards. Fortunately, many organizations are concentrating on improving formal financial education in their communities. Still, by the time the APR hits the lowest common denominator in the United States, the banks will have figured out a new instrument to extract fees and interest from us.

If I had to give Americans a grade for their collective financial wisdom, sadly it would be an F. Conversely, what do you suppose the financial knowledge of the banks is? It is safe to say more people with PhDs are trying to figure out how to get our money than there are pages in this book. But their education is not the problem—the problem is their intent. They are a cartel.

What is a cartel? It is a group of individuals that fixes prices in order to control a market. In the case of unsecured debt, I refer to the central banking system as the Central Banking Cartel.

Take a minute to think about it from a dollars-and-cents standpoint. In that case, businesses are trying to improve two general areas—volume and profit centers. The volume in play has come organically from the increase in population since the inception of credit cards in the 1950s. Another giant leap has been the digital age, which has transformed the way we buy products. Other contributing factors have been the increase in lending platforms with unsecured debt. This ranges from online loan platforms to payday loans and tribal loans.

Unless massive restrictions prohibit consumers from opening new credit accounts, the volume will increase indefinitely. The other area of focus for the Central Banking Cartel is profit centers. Their model of lending is based on risk. The higher the risk of default, the higher the interest rate they charge. So, if they can make more money by targeting those least able to pay, it means they are making more money. Poverty-level income is increasing and the middle class is shrinking, which means the pool of those least able to pay grows yearly. This is excellent news if you are a member of the cartel. It is no secret that almost every bank has multiple projects and think tanks focused on this group, examining how to get this group to open new credit accounts and how to implement slick tricks like cash back to keep this group in its sinking financial boat.

The Banking Cartel’s victim

If we shift out of the cartel perspective and return to the view of an average consumer, this attitude is sickening. The cartel targets people with a higher probability of defaulting and less access to financial education. Most Americans can’t afford to pay for an emergency costing just $400 with cash. This class of consumer probably will have to use credit at some point that they cannot repay. This trend is increasing poverty and squeezing the middle class out of existence. The final factor for targeting those least able to pay is inflation since the 1950s, when credit cards got a foothold. The cost of rent, electricity, gas, and a loaf of bread is through the roof and wages haven’t followed suit. In the 1950s, it was possible for one parent to support a household with children that owned property and was firmly in the middle class. Now, even with two parents working, making ends meet without using credit can be a miracle. The dollars add up for the bank, but the situation doesn’t make sense for humans. So, what do we do if we find ourselves struggling to pay our bills and have a bunch of debt?

The easy answer is to hunker down and pay it off. If it were that easy, no one would be in debt. It takes not only a sound plan but also flawless execution. It can and should be done when feasible. But what do you do if you don’t know where to turn or you can’t afford it? The answer depends on where you live. There are many federal guidelines, but each state also has a say. Bankruptcy is a perfect example.

Every state has different guidelines for what can be left out of bankruptcy. How much it costs to file for bankruptcy varies by state. Many states have outdated requirements that must be met in order to be deemed insolvent. In addition to bankruptcy, each state has its own rules on the available debt relief options and their cost. A contributing reason is that there is not enough reliable data (most companies that offer debt relief services are private and not required to report their results) to allow regulators to decide what works and what does not. Once again, the consumer is left trying to make sense of another complex financial tool.

Shaming

What happens next? Things get interesting when you can’t pay and fall behind on your debt. There are many misconceptions about financial hardship and default. The situation makes us feel like we are doing something wrong. Creditors call us and our credit score goes down. What does that mean? It means we feel like we didn’t live up to our side of the bargain.

We borrowed money intending to pay it back and we couldn’t, so we are dishonest or lack integrity. This is shaming.

Most Americans are financially undereducated. One thing is for sure: we are human and self-worth and the desire to be liked by other people is at our core. The cartel capitalizes on this. This is part of the filter. In fact, the cartel relies on an emotional response from consumers to pay debts they cannot afford. They see it as a business transaction, and the more we can also see it as such, the better chance we have of keeping our sanity.

The cartel’s last recourse is to bring a civil action against consumers for unpaid debt.

This is written into credit applications and the cartel reserves the right to sue anytime a consumer is in default. Now, is there a problem with having a way to recover money that was lent in general? The answer is, of course not. But, given that the cartel targets those least able to pay, it should come as no surprise that civil lawsuits filed by the cartel are at an all-time high. There is no way currently to know the precise number of the millions of lawsuits per year.

Another estimate is that 90% of consumers who are sued do not have legal representation. This means people face a lot of uncertainty about a legal process they do not understand, resulting in a 70% no-show rate for court hearings. That means 70% of consumers who get a creditor lawsuit get a default judgment. Because the volume of civil lawsuits is so high, the court system cannot reasonably consider each case and judgments are rubber-stamped. Once a judgment is entered into court, the creditor has on average 20 years to garnish wages, levy property, or put a lien on the consumer’s bank account. They have recently uncovered a system referred to as assembly-line filing. That means a small handful of collection agencies files up to 80% of all civil lawsuits.

This small group of debt collectors is taking advantage of the broken legal system to harm consumers. In essence, it has become another form of a collection letter designed to bully consumers who do not understand their rights. If the average financial grade of Americans is an F, Americans’ average consumer rights knowledge is too low to even get a grade.

Security found in consumer protection rights

What does the future hold for consumers experiencing financial hardship? I hate to say it, but it’s bleak. The cartel has no interest in any regulatory changes. Some consumer advocacy groups have pulled together the statistics on the disparate impact this whole system has on consumers. Still, unless we get more protection for consumers from state and federal governments, nothing will change. The best shot a consumer has at navigating the risks in using credit is never to use it. But, if that ship has sailed and you have debt and financial hardship, then it’s time to get to work. You need to know your rights first and foremost.

You can use many tactics to beat the cartel at its own game. One is seeking counsel from a consumer protection attorney. Most creditors and debt collectors bend or break the law every day. They do this knowing a few debtors will catch them, but the money they collect as a result of their illegal activity will offset any fines. You have the right to force arbitration with your creditors. This tactic will bring them to the table and force a settlement overseen by a neutral third party. You also have the right to dispute your debt when it goes to collections. If a lawsuit is filed, seek legal representation that will demonstrate financial hardship and is willing to fight your case to get the lawsuit dismissed. If all of this seems overwhelming, hire a reputable company willing to do it for you. One thing is for sure—if you are experiencing financial hardship, you should never pay the cartel unless you have no choice. There is no shame in its game and there shouldn’t be any in yours either.

Empowered consumers winning over the credit card scam

This is the great credit card scam. We should not be afraid. This is an opportunity to get an education that will empower us for the rest of our lives. It is not going to be easy, but it will be rewarding. We need to keep our chins up and realize this too shall pass. Although the odds are stacked against the average consumer, we win by becoming engaged. The cartel is preying on people who do not understand the system or their rights. Once we enact our rights, the cartel will move on to its next victim. Our responsibility is to take this education and pass it on.

An informed consumer is an empowered consumer.

This is America, and we will not go gentle into that good night.

Brian Durocher

CEO and consumer advocate

PREFACE

Welcome to this great reading journey! I am Arturo or, as many call me, Art. I consider myself an ordinary person who has been around for six decades. There’s not much glamour found in my past nor much prestige in my family name—no considerable monies inherited or fame attained by myself or my ancestors. I’m just one more living soul like you, one of 8 billion walking through this marvelous earthly journey.

I am fascinated by observing life. I constantly seek to understand different philosophies from diverse cultures. I enjoy listening to other points of view while also finding it amusing to contemplate our eternal human behavioral patterns. I study people closely but respectfully.

Like a radar, I try to capture what triggers human actions.

My primary, foundational desire as a person is to be empathetic. My constant humanity-improvement target is to raise another human being’s quality of life and empower that person toward a positive transformation for his or her highest good!

My mission in life

I have always felt my life’s mission is to untie the complicated knots of the rope of life. This purpose constantly drives me forward. With every door that opens, I offer my loving contribution to encourage, uplift, touch, move and inspire. When this contribution is received, it accomplishes its ultimate objective: spreading transformational power others can grab.

I am an optimistic fan of what is possible in all our experiences. As a result of being convinced my life counts, I have anchored myself as an always-shining light. I have decided to stir others in the right direction. I seek to magnify the positive in their lives. I love flaming triumph in people, pointing them toward a confident walk on a happy pathway that can culminate with the full enjoyment of success in life!

The birth of this book

Over the years, I have worked in business development. In April 2016, a job opportunity opened with a company that assists consumers in resolving debt. I had never been in that industry, so I took on the challenge and started taking my first baby steps. I went into it with total confidence and absolute certainty bolted to an unshakable foundation. Keeping out of my mind any seeds of doubt, I gave myself the charge of learning the basics with attentiveness. I made myself grow through the learning curve and prosper in my new role with actual effectiveness!

The years have passed and I can humbly write I have attained proven success. I have assisted thousands of clients to say goodbye to millions of dollars of burdensome, mind-crushing, painful debt. I have equipped myself with more knowledge than the average person. Why? For no reason other than the work I do.

I immerse myself daily in this trait! I can now have an intelligent, honest conversation regarding this vital topic of debt and personal finances. Furthermore, I can direct consumers down the right path. I love teaching those who are hungry for this specialized knowledge!

Happy, grateful clients

Like fresh rain falling on a cracked, dry, heated desert, so are the many overcomers who have made it. I have witnessed them mature and get financially healthy again. These golden folks came to grips with their financial sickness. They admitted they had a severe problem with credit card debt. They pulled out their white flag and waved it. In a complete personal resolution, they humbly surrendered to their debt reality. Those who achieve freedom from debt are very fortunate. They came to see their truth and decided to change it radically once and for all!

The joy and hope of financial restoration

It is a joy to see clients escape the abusive credit card debt that piles up due to exorbitant interest rates. I quietly smile every time I learn how strong a client feels to once again breathe pure, clean, and wholesome financial air.

I invite you to sit with me. Imagine sitting by my side as I enjoy learning about clients’ new financial habits. They find security in the power of the cash they build. They learn full appreciation of something they did not have before. They can access money easily. It is their money. It is the cash they have so ardently worked for and no one is draining them of it anymore!

That is right! They are finally in control. At last, they are guarding their itchy desires against needless spending and are walking in self-control, charged with a commitment to protect their money! They have learned new discipline: budget, spend carefully and save money. Priceless!

Many clients have also crossed the bridge and are now walking as investors! It works. They have started multiplying their money in the green fields of financial prosperity. They have gotten wiser in networking with leaders who invest cash in reproducing it.

I want to thank the many clients who have referred struggling family members, friends, and coworkers over the years. As a team, we have been able to pay it forward. United, we can have a beneficial financial impact on those close to us! Exciting, isn’t it?

The need for more profound financial education

In my daily work consulting with people over the phone, it takes a good-quality hour to successfully assist clients to come to grips with their current debt entanglement. The ideal phone meeting concludes with a well-realized aha! Their mental spark is ignited. It is their unique, once-in-a-lifetime, firm decision to do something about the lingering debt.

The time for confrontation arrives. A radical change takes place! They find a new spirit. They get hold of a new attitude of do or die, a now-or-never feeling. It is a firm decision leading to a free and total commitment to voluntarily surrender to what has been a disastrous credit card debt experience. The foul stench of acid, the source of headaches, that awful taste of an unhappy life, is at last left behind.

Consumers who start a financial restoration process enroll themselves in a debt-relief solution they can fully own. It is a cure the financial patient works out individually.

Our company serves as a personal economic restoration center, a rehab center, if you will,

for credit addicts.

A Doctor’s specialized knowledge

A doctor cannot cure cancer in a single office visit. In the same way, a quick magical solution to credit card debt does not exist. There is a need to deepen a consumer’s natural healing from years spent struggling with finances. It is vital. It is a deep dive that cannot be superficial. Due to the very nature of financial sickness, it demands a deeper analysis, a more profound quest, deeper treatment.

Because of this, I realized I needed more profound education about the many topics surrounding the subject at hand. I became a devoted student and made it my goal to grow in daily knowledge.

Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers (Proverbs 16:20).

Financial debt as an addiction

Addictions developed by drunkards or drug users take monumental efforts to overcome. Most of us recognize an addict has to hit rock bottom, to wake up and make the ultimate U-turn. Their triumph comes from the gut in a specific outburst that cries, No more with this addiction! It is a decision that must be 100% owned by the individual living it.

Addicts must come to a solid conviction to never go back to the pain of their disease! Using the same illustration, people whose spending habits become distorted by constant utilization of credit cards do this. They also look for desperate, patch-me-up loans. It is almost like a reckless fix-me-up insistence, a pattern of taking out loan after loan. These behaviors demand very delicate attention. An expert in financial recovery must lead the fragile client toward in-depth surgery on their financial mind and heart. Financial debt overcomers require constant care so they can attain a profound and truthful transformation.

The ultimate victory is to get the patient to desire absolute healing, never to get back into debt again! Reaching inner freedom from credit card addiction is just the beginning of a new financial walk. The following steps require strength of focus, a purposeful direction of constant development of new spending habits, and a new routine constructing a substantial savings account.

INTRODUCTION

Valid questions that needed truthful answers

Over the years of my studies, many good questions arose. What is credit? How did the credit scoring system start in the United States? What is an interest rate? How much interest should a credit grantor charge a consumer? What is a reasonable interest rate and what is not?

When did consumers get the first credit card in our country? How has the credit card industry tricked so many people through so many lies and entrapped them into modern financial slavery?

What are the different ways people in debt can escape their economic suffocation?

Why have so many people attempted and committed suicide? So many have tragically taken their own lives because of a crushing financial debt they could no longer sustain.

A slew of questions would come to mind all the time. Many others had to do with the banking industry. How do banks operate? How do they make their money? How can governmental authorities allow interest rates as high as 600% or more to be structured into unsecured loans? What can we do as consumers to reverse the patterns of financial decay in our modern U.S. credit system? What will this look like for future generations if things don’t get better?

More profound education demanded deeper research

I have been fortunate to accumulate a treasury of truths since developing my professionalism in this industry. These truths have worked very effectively and have served as eye-openers to thousands of consumers. To their shame, banks and credit card companies have kept consumers blindfolded. With me now being a voice and now playing this game, the lights are turned on brightly. I’m sending out this valuable book as a financial freedom missile of truth and light. No more darkness for consumers!

Coupled with historical research has come ample understanding of many vital concepts.

I have developed the ability to see where it all started going wrong for all of us. It is all related to our current and severe individual and family problems connected to credit card debt. Unfortunately, many debt cases have proven disastrous. Here is an encouraging truth: there is no current unfortunate case that cannot be transformed into a fortunate one!

Can you see it? It is the sheer beauty of personal financial transformation.

Who completes it? Brave souls who decide to go for it!

"How much better to get wisdom than gold,

to get insight rather than silver!" (Proverbs 16:16).

A living stop sign

It seems that, in my daily work, I hold up a living stop sign. It is a permeating attitude behind my voice that carries over the phone with a constant backdrop, imploring people to slow down, stop and think! It always aims at leading the entrapped debtor to come to grips with reality and make a very personal, definitive decision: I have to turn my life around now!

An endless caravan of debtors keeps on running by me, out of control. They rush and fail to put the brakes on. They’re financially agitated, unhappy, restless, and constantly looking for a quick patch for their money wounds. Those who fail to stop fly right by me, out of touch and infected with financial stress. Careless and heated, people burdened by debt appear to be desperately looking for what they hope can be a quick fix to their bleeding financial situation. Truth be known, there is none.

No quick-fix solution

Are you like me? Do you analyze modern life? It seems 21st-century living is a virtual, one-click, fast solution. Isn’t it? What I mean is this. There is a quiet voice, an always-pushing stressful feeling within our chests and minds that constantly screams, go, go, go, go, go, as there seems to be all kinds of quick solutions out there for each of us: a one-pill remedy for a headache, one drive-through to calm our hunger, one click on the Internet and done.

The product is bought. Delivery is on its way. That easy? Really?

It all appears streamlined and magical—simple, fast, easy solutions. Not so with credit card debt! It is not like that at all. Unless you have substantial hard cash to pay off all your credit card debt in one sweep, there is no quick way around it! I invite you to read your credit card statement. It says on the front page you will be repaying your credit card debt for the next 18 to 20 years if you pay just your monthly minimum!

Consider how ridiculous that is! You will end up paying way more than double, triple, or quadruple of what the balance statement shows today! Yep. Absurd, isn’t it? What a scam!

Can you imagine making payments to a credit card through the year 2042? How absurd! Think about how old you would be then. I would be an 80-year-old man still paying a credit card!

Never!

Recalling the 1970s

Many of us can recall the 60s and 70s. I remember how things were before modern technology started hovering over us. I vividly remember the rotary phone in our Mexico City home. Back then, I only knew one artifact to use to make phone calls, the handheld telephone.

The upper part had an integrated speaker for ear utilization. The microphone rested embedded in the lower section. The main square base sat steadily while connected to the wall through a long wire plugged into a power socket. Did you ever use one of those phones?

I sure did!

Camera with a roll of film

What about taking pictures in those days? Remember the old, basic tourist camera?

It required a separate, individual roll of film that fit inside the chamber of the camera’s back. When the trip was over, you had to exercise patience for several days to see your pictures.

It was a waiting game. You had to take the roll of film to a store to be developed. After two or three days—sometimes a week—the printed, eagerly expected pictures were finally ready for pickup. Wow! How exciting it was. You could relive all those great travel memories. They were right there in front of you, in paper, in printed form!

Ah, those good old days.

Writing letters with pen and paper

What about the process of writing letters? That fundamental mode of communication and the