Consumerist
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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 » -
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]
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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 » -
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 » -
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]
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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 » -
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 » -
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 » -
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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 » -
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]
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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 »
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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 » -
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 » -
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 » -
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 » -
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!)
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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 » -
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 »
investigations
New York, 8:24 PM
Sun Jul 5
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