Posted July 10, 2009 - 08:00 by Xin Lu
Real Estate and Housing, Consumer Affairs
Rising home foreclosures have made con artists very busy. These scammers use the public records to find homeowners who are in trouble, and then use a variety of schemes to take the homeowners' money and property in the name of helping the homeowner avoid foreclosure. If you have late payments on your home loan then it is likely that you will be targeted. The following are some warning signs that you are dealing with a possible scammer.
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Posted May 29, 2009 - 14:02 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Credit Cards, Consumer Affairs
This week my husband received an unsolicited Visa debit card from a firm called netSpend. It was certainly an odd experience to receive a card that looked official instead of a pre-approved credit application packet. This is my story of shock, anger, and finally disgust at the practices of this financial firm.
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Posted May 7, 2009 - 11:50 by Paul Michael
Personal Finance, General Tips, Consumer Affairs
A US version of the UK show The Real Hustle has been trying out some very simple but effective cons on the American public, and they’re getting away with some serious money. Watch, learn and stay alert. One of these could catch you out the next time you leave the office or home, even if it’s just to grab some quick cash from an ATM or a small bite to eat.
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Posted April 13, 2009 - 13:50 by Paul Michael
Frugal Living, Technology, Shopping, Budgeting, Consumer Affairs
If you love Craigslist, and use the free section to either post products or get great deals, you really need to read this. Because there’s a dirty secret to Craigslist that most people don’t know about it, and the free section gets hit with it most.
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Posted April 6, 2009 - 12:57 by Xin Lu
Shopping, Consumer Affairs
Today I stumbled upon a site called Swoopo. It is touted as a new auction site that combines shopping with entertainment. I took a quick look and it seemed like many items were selling for very low prices. For example, an ounce of gold recently sold for only $187.96 when it is worth around $1000. How is this possible?
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Posted March 14, 2009 - 17:10 by Torley Wong
Career Building
Sure, you'd like to boost your online presence and make money on the Internet. But just like pyramid schemes attract the greedy and fad diets interest the desperate, many social media snake oil salespeople are out there, ready to sucker you. READ ON for 7 ways to distinguish the fakes from the real deals.
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Posted February 5, 2009 - 09:49 by Paul Michael
Consumer Affairs
You’ve seen the tacky ads; you’ve been entertained by Ed McMahon and MC Hammer; but hopefully, you haven’t fallen for any of it. Cash4Gold has a simple promise; send them your unwanted gold (and we all have a ton of unwanted valuables lying around I’m sure) and in return they’ll pay “top dollar” for it. But as you’ll see from over 260 complaints to the Better Business Bureau, top dollar certainly doesn’t mean what it used to.
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Posted January 5, 2009 - 11:17 by Paul Michael
Real Estate and Housing, Consumer Affairs
It seems like new variations of the Nigerian 419 scam pop up every week. The one that caught my attention recently involved renting a home, and it’s a nasty trick that could take anyone by surprise. But if you know what to look for, you can avoid it.
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Posted August 14, 2008 - 13:25 by Paul Michael
Consumer Affairs
My wife forwarded me one of those “hey everyone, don’t fall for this” emails this morning. I get one from a friend or relative at least once a week, and usually they’re well-meaning but filled with gross inaccuracies or are just completely untrue. However, when I looked to my source for all things BS, Snopes.com, I discovered this one was 100% true. It’s called the Jury Duty scam. It’s a smart, simple con that could clean you out.
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For many years now, thousands of folks have been earning a little extra cash by doing Mystery Shopping (aka Secret Shopping). You probably already know what’s involved, but here’s a quick rundown from the FTC:
Some retailers hire marketing research companies to evaluate the quality of service in their stores; these companies use mystery shoppers to get the information anonymously. They assign a mystery shopper to make a particular purchase in a store or restaurant, for example, and then report on the experience. Typically, the shopper is reimbursed, and can keep the product or service.
Continue reading "The mystery shopping scam that could cost you a fortune."
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