As everyone now knows, 143 million Americans had their personal data compromised during a two-month-long data breach at credit reporting agency Equifax earlier this year. Authorities are now reminding consumers to watch out for bad actors looking to profit from everyone’s worries about their newfound vulnerability. [More]
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Taking Out A Reverse Mortgage To Delay Social Security Might Not Be The Best Idea
By 8.24.17
More than two years after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that reverse mortgage ads create a false impression of the financial product, the agency is once again warning older consumers about the dangers of using reverse mortgages. This time, the CFPB is warning against using reverse mortgages to provide income that would allow the individual to delay Social Security benefits, which can increase their future monthly benefits, but decrease their overall, long-term financial outlook. [More]
Ad Watchdog Group Calls For Investigation Into Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop
By 8.23.17 — Updated: 8.24.17
From paying $425 for a cleanse to claiming “healing stickers” are made from material designed for NASA space suits, Gwyneth Paltrow’s “modern lifestyle brand” Goop is no stranger to controversy. Now, a consumer watchdog group is asking regulators in California to investigate the product line for deceptive advertising. [More]
No, You Can’t Pay Your Bills Using The Routing Number For The Federal Reserve
By 8.16.17
The Federal Reserve System might be the central banking system of the United States, but it is not your bank. To that end, you can’t provide a service provider, merchant, or other entity with the routing number from the Federal Reserve, and if someone asks you to, it’s likely a scam. [More]
Safety Regulators Issue Safety Alert For Still-Popular Fidget Spinners
By 8.10.17
Following several incidents in which it became increasingly clear that toys-of-the-moment fidget spinners weren’t just exploding in popularity, but actually exploding, federal safety regulators have issued a safety alert aimed at reducing the potential for injuries and fire hazards associated with the gadgets. [More]
Measles Outbreak Linked To Lack Of Vaccinations Grows In Minnesota
By 5.5.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Dozens of people in Minnesota have been diagnosed with measles in recent weeks, leading health officials to consider imposing a mandatory isolation and quarantine order on some people who have been exposed. [More]
Google Adds Phishing Protection To Android Gmail App
By 5.4.17
Yesterday, millions of Gmail users became the targets of a phishing scam in which someone they knew sent a Google Doc for them to edit. Once they clicked on the email, however, they opened their computers and email accounts to ne’er-do-wells. Now, Google is launching an update that may make it easier for users to decipher when an email is suspicious — as long as they’re using the Android app. [More]
After Deadly Fire, Government Warns Against Using LayZ Board Hoverboards
By 5.2.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Two months after a charging “hoverboard” scooter sparked a tragic fire in Pennsylvania that claimed the lives of two young girls, federal safety regulators are warning consumers to stop using LayZ Board hoverboards. [More]
If You Use A Tax Preparer, Make Sure They Don’t Get Taken In By ‘Last-Minute Email’ Scam
By 3.20.17
Taxes can be complicated, and you may have last-minute tweaks to make as you pull together paperwork. Scammers are now taking advantage of this fact, posing as taxpayers to siphon away their annual refunds. [More]
‘Handy’ Cleaning App Linked To More Than 50 Thefts In NYC
By 2.6.17
It might be convenient to summon a cleaning service with the tap of your smartphone, but police in New York City are warning that convenience could lead to theft after dozens of customers using the house-cleaning app Handy reported being burgled. [More]
Google To Warn Users Of Sites Repeatedly Infected With Malware
By 11.9.16
A year ago, Google updated its “Safe Browsing” technology to provide a warning to internet users who are about to visit a site full of software meant to infect devices and potentially steal consumers’ personal information. While the warnings are removed once sites clean up their act, some merely do so for a short time. Now, Google is taking steps to ensure visitors of those pages know it’s a repeat offender. [More]
Airlines Verbally Warning Passengers To Not Use Samsung Note 7 During Flights
By 9.12.16
Days after the Federal Aviation Administration put out a statement asking passengers not to use or charge their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on a plane following reports of exploding and smoking devices, some travelers say airlines are taking additional steps to ensure those devices are turned off. [More]
FDA Issues Warning That Misuse, Abuse Of Imodium Can Cause Heart Issues
By 6.8.16
Following reports that some opioid addicts are taking potentially lethal doses of over-the-counter anti-diarrhea medication, the Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about the dangers of abuse and misuse of these seemingly innocuous products. [More]
HBO Starting To Get Serious About Game Of Thrones Piracy
By 5.9.16
As you may have heard, a little cable show called Game of Thrones is back on TV, meaning it’s once again time for hordes of people to go online in search of free, pirated episodes. While HBO has previously turned a blind-ish eye to this unauthorized sharing, the network is beginning to ramp up its anti-piracy efforts. [More]
FBI To Carmakers, Owners: Your Vehicles Are “Increasingly Vulnerable” To Hackings
By 3.18.16
Nearly a year after the very public hacking of a Jeep that eventually led to the recall of more than 1.4 million Fiat Chrysler vehicles, federal law enforcement and vehicles safety officials are warning carmakers and owners that their vehicles are “increasingly vulnerable” to hackings. [More]
Report: Volkswagen Chief Executive Knew Of Diesel “Defeat Device” Investigation In 2014
By 2.15.16
At least some high-ranking executives at Volkswagen knew a year in advance about a probe into the carmaker’s diesel vehicles that eventually uncovered “defeat devices” that skirted federal emission standards, new internal documents reveal. [More]
CFPB To Banks: Offer More “No Overdraft” Checking Accounts, Provide Accurate Credit Information
By 2.3.16
Some 10 million Americans are considered “unbanked,” often because they are believed to pose too high a credit risk for a bank to offer them a standard checking account. But the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau believes many of these people could be brought into the fold if more banks were to offer lower-risk deposit accounts that provided the benefits of a checking account without being a risk to the financial institution. [More]
Beware Of The Santa Scam: There’s Nothing Holly Jolly About Identity Theft
By 12.22.15
Imagine the look in your child’s eye when they open one last gift on Christmas morning. This one isn’t a toy car, a baby doll, or some electronic, it’s a handwritten letter from everyone’s favorite big guy, Santa. But for every legitimate company that offers to send “Santa letters” or provide calls from Jolly Ol’ St. Nick, there’s bound to be another that just wants to Scrooge you out of your money — or worse. [More]
