February 2009 Archives

The Federal Trade Commission late yesterday released their annual list of top consumer complaints. The results of their 2008 report show for the nine straight years in a row, identity theft was the number one complaint. Not surprisingly, second was...
Affil pointed out this funny video spoof by YouTube user Dan Louisell. He explains how the "Free Credit Report" commercial as advertised on TV with the catchy little jingle really isn't free - it's $14.95/month.    So where do...
Oops, another data breach. VISA has announced that an unnamed credit and debit card processor recently reported a massive data breach -not unlike earlier reported breaches at payment processors Heartland and RBS WorldPay. At this time, the processor's name is...
It sure looks like banks and credit card companies are continuing to squeeze consumers for every last penny they can.  Consumers are upset, and rightfully so, that the same lenders who begged for, and received, billions of taxpayer dollars -continue...
The University of Florida is reporting that a  hacker recently entered their computer system compromising the personal information, including Social Security numbers, for about 97,200 students, faculty and staff members.The system has been shut down since discovered last month.The files...
With so many consumers finding themselves out of work, deep in debt and struggling to keep up with escalating credit card payments as creditors raise interest rates on already borrowed debt, many people are determining whether or not bankruptcy is...
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum sent out a press release on Friday encouraging Floridians and other consumers to monitor their credit card statements to ensure their personal information hasn't been compromised as a result of a data breach that impacted...
University of Alabama campus officials sent letters out to 37,000 people whose personal information may have been stolen by computer hackers.   The school revealed Friday that in November, seventeen of their four-hundred databases were tapped by hackers. One of...
Some people have a unique ability to find humor in any situation. Author Barbara Silkstone is one of these people. When facing absurd or challenging situations, maybe we should consider following her lead and use humor to express our frustrations...
If you're fed up with bad news, continually hearing about massive job losses, the declining stock market and taxpayer dollars bailing out everyone except  you, you're certainly not alone. But have you voiced your concerns to Congress? The best way...
McAfee, Microsoft and even the FBI have announced a noticeable increase in the amount of tricks and traps placed on the web by scammers who are using Valentines Day as their hook. Playing to our softer side, scammers direct us...
We can reduce your property tax by about $1,000. That's the claim that has been catching the eyes of many Californians who have reported receiving a very official looking letter from a Los Angeles based company calling itself "Property Tax...
Personal data belonging to more than 45,000 employees and retirees of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was stolen after hackers broke into their computer servers. The FAA told its employees that they had just last week discovered that an unidentified...
The 2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report - released on Feb 9th, by Javelin Strategy & Research (www.javelinstrategy.com) - confirms that the number of identity fraud victims has increased 22 percent to 9.9 million adults in the United States, while the...
With the economy slumping crooks are finding new and innovative techniques useful in catching intended victims off guard. Recently there have been reports of a new parking ticket scam. It seems phony tickets left on windshields instruct drivers to visit...
If you've been harmed by mortgage servicing company EMC, don't feel as though you are being singled out -you're not! UPDATE: Sept. 27, 2010 Class Action filed against EMC Mortgage in CAThere is a lengthy list of EMC complaints that...
Kaiser Permanente is notifying 29,500 of its Northern California employees that a security breach has led to the release of their personal information, names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers for Kaiser employees.Kaiser set up a toll-free phone...
"Skimming" is one of the newest ways thieves have found to steal your information from credit and debit cards. For as little as a hundred bucks, criminals can purchase card readers to use as a handheld device or installed into...
If we are ever going to get the economy back on its feet -economists agree on one thing -the mortgage crises must be stabilized. Bailout money to the big banks did nothing to help borrowers stay in their homes, free...
 The FBI and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) continue to receive numerous complaints from individuals who have fallen victim to work-at-home scams and remind consumers to be vigilant when seeking employment online.These work-at-home schemes are designed by criminals to...
With the economy in trouble and continued reports of widespread job loss, all kinds of scams and crimes are on the rise, including ATM scams. Though I've discussed the practice referred to as "skimming" on a variety of prior blogs,...
Are you paying for someone else's mistakes? You may be paying higher interest rates and insurance premiums due to a contaminated credit report and inaccurately calculated credit scores.  It's important to review your credit reports and dispute any inaccuracies -and...
A memoir exposing the steep price consumers pay when facing mortgage servicing errors, inaccurate credit reporting, illegal debt collection practices, identity theft and weak consumer protection laws. THE BOOK » DENISE'S STORY »