If you could do anything, anywhere, what would you do?

You are right on about the banking stuff. It is all over Europe, has been for years. Part of the delay here is that everybody is running different systems. Just about everything in Europe is GSM, from day one, and all on the same frequencies. Here it is a complete mix-mash of stuff. GSM, CDMA, TDMA, iDen, ...and a partridge in a pare tree. I think there are something like 13 different systems running out there, if you count the different generations of each. Open market competition has helped bring prices down here, but the tight regulations have made for much better networks over there. It is coming. Everything here will be down to CDMA (Verizon and Sprint)or GSM (Cingular, ATT / T-Mobile) within a few years. We are just beginning to see the "wireless" side of online banking here. It was a logistic nightmare until recently, and although the industry is confident I still think it is a security nightmare. If you have a TollTag in Dallas, you probably know you can pay for parking at Love Field, drive through at a few McDonald's and Starbucks with it, too.  Once this spreads more, and into the wireless phones, it will create a whole new industry for the criminals. Fixed wireless to the home is another cool market that is expanding rapidly. Check out ClearWire. I think they are the real deal and will end up the biggest. They are also backed by Craig McCaw, who owned and built some of the very first cell phone systems. Lots of money to play with. That is fast for what you pay! One of the advantages of living in Addison. TruLuck's is another. I love that place. Take care. JP

Check out Bank of America. They offer the double log in authentication, with a site key and offer complete fraud protection for free, including on my ATM, Debit and Credit cards. I have had employee cards frauded several times, and they refunded the money within 24 hours. I am pretty sure it was the same people getting me every time, as the charges were for things bought on ebay in Europe, and it all happened within a few month period. Some banks say they will refund the money, but only if you notify them within 24 hours of the fraud activity, so read the small print. I think to get this service from BofA you have to maintain $25K in your accounts, but it can be combined from several accounts, including an IRA or CD. We were hit in the real estate firm for $70K in a single month about 7 years ago, by a temp receptionist hired when our regular one went into the hospital. She intercepted commission checks headed to the agents. The amazing part is that the police would do nothing about it. We hired a PI, who found her within three days and we had a whole file on her for the police. They still would do nothing. There is a dollar amount that it has to be over before the FBI will get involved, and it is way over $70K. I got serious about banking security at that point. I have heard of Mortgage Brokers in Texas who have hit banks for upwards of $20M in a single month, and then bolted for Brazil or somewhere like that. The banks will go and get them, for that kind of money. As a mortgage broker, they might as well give you keys to the bank. I have read a few accounts where they never found the guys, but it is rare. One guy was pretty clever. He set up an account to make the payments automatically for the first year on the fake loans he made, to give himself a head start to vanish. The banks figured it our about 6 months into it, but last I heard they never found him. Of course, to get a mortgage license in Texas now, you have to pass a full background check by DPS, bonded, fingerprinted, the whole nine yards, but there are still idiots that try to get away with every year. You definitely want the static line if you can get it, by the way. You should be able to use a router to share your one account, but at $17/month it's hardly worth it. Have you asked your provider for a static line. Many corporate VPN's require it for their remote employees and the ISPs will usually give you one if you ask, even though they publish that it is dynamic only. Some do charge significantly more for it, and I understand why, but it is worth a shot. The VOIP stuff is suppose to be getting very good, but again, is only as good as your pipe to the internet. Several large companies have gone that way with their entire systems, and many more are following. I personally do not use it, but just because I don't need it. If I had to make many long distance or especially international calls, I would be all over it. JP

I agree with the BofA thing, but it is better than most. I change the Site Key and the password monthly. What I like is the 0 liability. If someone hacks my accounts, or fraudulently uses one of my cards, BofA pays up. It has happened twice already, with debit cards. If you are still writing checks, you might as well just post your account numbers here on the internet. I pay nearly everything electronically. It is quicker and easier, as well as much more secure. Just my humble opinion. A quality, cross-cutting, shredder is also a requirement, but I would think you already have one of those. We shred EVERYTHING that goes into the trash. A run a near paperless office now. Most of my clients don't even want a hard copy anymore. We just upload everything directly to their servers, usually. The mortgage company was a real paper nightmare. Everything hardcopy, and you are required to keep them for something like ten years. I never could get a straight answer from TSLD on if we could scan everything then destroy the originals. We still have a dozen file cabinets stuffed full of other people's data. When it is a mortgage, you have everything on them in the files. And I mean everything, credit reports, bank accounts, employer information, everything. T-1's are getting cheaper every day. $200? I can remember when you couldn't touch one for under $1200. I'm with you, a little cheaper and I will go that route. JP