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    • insurance

      Two-Thirds Of Insurers Share Faulty Database That Lets Them Overcharge Patients

      Earlier this week, a Congressional investigation revealed that several insurance companies rely on a database from Ingenix that deliberately underestimates the cost of medical services, reports the Associated Press. The result is that "American consumers have paid billions of dollars for health care services that their insurance companies should have paid." More »

      1:44 PM on Fri Jun 26 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 50 comments

      Most discussed jmujeff: Holy conflict of interest. Hearing stuff like this, while not surprising, makes me furious seeing as I shell out $3-4 grand+ more »

    • auto warranties

      U.S. Fidelis Hires Former Attorney General Ashcroft's Law Firm

      U.S. Fidelis, the auto warranty company that's currently being investigated by 40 state attorneys general for questionable business practices, has hired the law firm headed by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. The firm won't represent the company in litigation, but is supposed to provide an internal review of their practices. They'll also provide draping cloths for any immodest statuary, and wiretap kits for employees of interest. Hey, it's hard to do topical humor on someone who's been out of office for 4 years.

      "U.S. Fidelis hires Ashcroft firm" [St. Louis Business Journal]

      1:16 PM on Thu May 14 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 52 comments

      Most discussed HiPwr: I guess the reference to the wire taps is with regard to the Patriot Act that our current president voted more »

    • crime

      8 Million Patient Records Stolen From Virginia State Database, Held For Ransom

      The Washington Post says that a hacker encrypted 8 million patient prescription records from a Virginia state website last week, deleted the backups, and replaced the home page with a ransom note. If the state doesn't pay $10 million within 7 days, the hacker has threatened to sell the data to the highest bidder. More »

      4:48 PM on Tue May 5 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 118 comments

      Most discussed wickedpixel: how much spam do you think we can have sent to hackingforprofit@yahoo.com in 7 days? more »

    • us fidelis

      Car Warranty Racket Exposed On Today Show

      The Today show recently aired a terrifically entertaining exposé of US Fidelis, one of the biggest companies behind the auto warranty racket that you've probably encountered via junk mail, telemarketing, or even on TV. They start by looking at an individual who spent $3,180 on one of their auto warranties only to be left stranded when her car overheated and they refused to pay. More »

      1:01 PM on Thu Apr 30 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 91 comments

      Most discussed IfThenElvis: Are there any legit car warranty companies? more »

    • investigations

      Beware The 7 Sins Of The Marketplace

      Here's seven different sneaky ways companies snag your cash, a little series CBC is calling "The Seven Sins Of The Marketplace." There's the sin of Addition, Omission, Creation, Salvation, Assurance, Persuasion, and Deception. What do those mean? Well, for instance, the Sin Of Creation is when a company invents a need you never knew you had, and then sells you a product to fulfill it. For the rest of 'em, check out CBC's cool video.

      How not to fall prey to the seven sins of the marketplace [CBC Marketplace]

      3:31 PM on Mon Apr 6 2009
      By Ben Popken
      0 views, 32 comments

      Most discussed Jonbo298: Internet is the biggest "Marketplace Sin" of all. Invented so many things we didn't think were necessary and now we more »

    • candy surprise

      Woman Finds Tiny Mammal Vertebra In Peanut M&M

      A woman in Atlanta bit into a blue peanut M&M and discovered a tiny, blackened bone, probably from a nut obsessed animal who crept into the M&M to eat the peanut, then died of remorse. A Mars rep told the customer it was probably just a peanut twig. Whatever; by our estimations, this animal is most likely smaller than a peanut M&M, but has a comically wide and very short neck. Hmm, maybe we should instead ask an expert to deduce where this bone came from, which is what the customer did. More »

      11:14 AM on Thu Mar 5 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 69 comments

      Most discussed chuck0008: Boo fricking hoo. We have one of the safest food supplies in the world. We eat parts of rodents all more »

    • comcast

      The Comcast Throttling Scandal And Its Consequences, Summarized

      NPR spoke with Daniel Roth, a senior writer at Wired Magazine, over the file sharing fiasco that Comcast found itself in about a year ago—the one where a Comcast customer discovered that the company was secretly impersonating his computer to interrupt bittorrent transmissions. More »

      12:45 PM on Wed Feb 25 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 57 comments

      Most discussed Velifer: Download caps? Tiered packages? In what terrifying *future* will these things come to pass? I have hughes.net. Usage is capped to more »

    • credit card fraud

      Three Men Arrested In Heartland Data Breach For Using Fake Visa Gift Cards

      The U.S. Secret Service has arrested three men in Florida on "hundreds of counts of credit card fraud" for using fake gift cards imprinted with account info stolen from Heartland Payment Systems last year. The Secret Service still thinks an Eastern European group is behind the Heartland breach, and that the Florida guys are smaller-time crooks who most likely purchased a subset of the stolen data. More »

      5:14 PM on Sun Feb 15 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 14 comments

    • crime

      FBI Raids Salmonella Peanut Butter Plant

      FBI agents raided the Georgia plant suspected in the current salmonella peanut butter outbreak that has been linked to 600 illnesses and eight deaths in 43 states. The company is accused of knowingly shipping the tainted products. More »

      9:40 AM on Tue Feb 10 2009
      By Meg Marco
      0 views, 45 comments

    • Are you a New Jersey resident who was screwed out of Springsteen tickets by the Ticketmaster/TicketsNow "technical glitch"? The state's Division of Consumer Affairs would like to hear from you. There's a small box on the lower right corner of the home page that will take you to a complaint form. [NJ Consumer Affairs via MetsPolice] MORE »

      28 comments

    • scalpers

      Congressman Wants Ticketmaster Investigated For 'TicketsNow' Website

      Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D) of New Jersey has asked the FTC and the Justice Department to investigate the relationship between Ticketmaster and its reseller website, TicketsNow, after consumers who tried to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets encountered technical problems that prevented purchase, and were then redirected to TicketsNow where prices were "hundreds of dollars above face value" (actually, more like "thousands of dollars," based on our check just a few minutes ago).

      Update: Bruce Springsteen speaks out against the Ticketmaster/TicketsNow stunt, and reminds everyone why a Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger would be very bad. We've reprinted his letter below. More »

      2:26 PM on Wed Feb 4 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 188 comments

      Most discussed GMFish: "beyond the eternal nuisance of scalping" Everyone is in favor of the first sale doctrine when it comes to the right more »

    • credit score

      How Credit Bureaus Correct, Or Fail To Correct, Errors On Your Report

      SmartMoney's Anne Kadet looked into the process by which the three major credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax—investigate and correct errors on credit reports. What she found was that the process is "almost entirely automated," and that "many lenders respond by simply rereporting the erroneous data." Here's how it works, and your meager options when something goes wrong. More »

      12:30 PM on Tue Feb 3 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 32 comments

      Most discussed Eyebrows McGee (now...: I'm counting down the days until I can check my credit report -- I want to give it time to more »

    • fda

      Obama Orders Review Of FDA In Wake Of Salmonella Outbreak

      President Obama has had it up to here with poor FDA oversight, particularly of salmonella-infested peanut factories, and he's called for a review of the underfunded organization, according to U.S. News & World Report. More »

      6:32 PM on Mon Feb 2 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 80 comments

    • salmonella

      Senator And Representative Call For Criminal Investigation Of Salmonella Peanut Company

      Responding to FDA reports that the company responsible for the salmonella-tainted peanut butter that has infected over 500 people knew its products were contaminated, two members of Congress have called for a criminal investigation into Peanut Corporation of America . More »

      3:30 PM on Fri Jan 30 2009
      By Alex Chasick
      0 views, 23 comments

    • criminals

      Peanut Corp. of America Knowingly Shipped Tainted Peanut Butter

      The news about Peanut Corp. of America's complete abandonment of food safety gets worse: now it seems that the company knew its peanut butter had salmonella, but shipped it anyway. When the product tested positive, the company shopped around for another lab to provide "acceptable" results. More »

      9:54 PM on Wed Jan 28 2009
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 72 comments

      Most discussed ceez: my goodness.....why do we have such organizations?!?! they are all useless!! I think we start paying all those bigwigs lessmoney so more »

    • Remember the father and son team who cut in line at Walmart, then threatened an off-duty police officer with bodily harm, then were arrested? They've been charged with battery, and the off-duty cop has been cleared. A police investigator said, "The [Walmart] video supports [Officer] Kirby's version of what happened." [Indy Star] (Thanks to David!)

      25 comments

    • Petland

      Petland Uses Puppy Mills

      Jane Weaver of MSNBC writes:

      After an eight-month investigation, the Humane Society of the United States accused Petland, the national pet store chain, of selling dogs bred under appalling conditions at puppy mills around the country.

      While puppy mills aren't illegal, they're also not places where dogs are treated as anything more than merchandise—and the Humane Society says that the 21 Petland stores they investigated mislead buyers on where the dogs actually come from.

      More »

      8:11 PM on Thu Nov 20 2008
      By Chris Walters
      0 views, 137 comments

    • investigations

      Video: JiffyLube Caught Upselling Car-Damaging Repair Services

      KNBC undercover cameras caught local JiffyLubes and EZ-Lubes upselling customers to buy engine-flushing and fuel-injection cleaning services, services which have been forbidden by auto-manufacturers because they're unnecessary and can severely damage your engine. One guy's engine died while he was driving on the highway, and it cost him $5,000 to replace his engine. More »

      4:44 PM on Thu Nov 13 2008
      By Ben Popken
      0 views, 95 comments

      Most discussed nursetim: It was all of the upselling that soured me forever on oil change places. I have been changing my more »

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