Everyone loves getting a $1,000 gift card to their favorite store, but promises of that kind, especially those in text format, are generally a scam. At least that was the case for millions of consumers who received text messages from marketing scammers promising free gift cards to Walmart, Target, Best Buy and other retailers. [More]
Government Policy
AT&T/DirecTV File Merger Docs With FCC, Argue They Need To Merge To Compete Against Comcast
By 6.12.14
The busy summer telecom merger season continues apace. Late yesterday, AT&T filed its paperwork with the FCC, officially kicking off the regulatory process that the company needs to get through in order to buy DirecTV and allow the two to live happily ever after. [More]
$18 Million WIC And Food Stamps Fraud Scheme Used Pretend Grocery Stores
By 6.12.14
WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) and SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) are both federally-funded, state-administered programs with the simple goal of preventing Americans from going hungry. In Georgia, 54 people have been indicted for setting up pretend grocery stores that defrauded the programs of millions of dollars. [More]
NHTSA Opens Investigation Into Defective Airbags Following Numerous Recalls
By 6.12.14
Just a day after Toyota re-issued a 2013 recall because shrapnel could fly toward passengers when the airbag deploys, federal regulators opened an investigation into whether the airbags used by five automakers could hurt people in the event of a crash. [More]
Wegmans Recalls Bagged Ice Because Metal Machine Fragments Aren’t Great For Cooling Beverages
By 6.12.14
In what may be a first for us, we bring you the news of a supermarket chain — specifically Alec Baldwin fave Wegmans — recalling thousands of pounds of bagged ice that may contain little bits of metal from the machine that produces the frozen water. [More]
People Still Falling For Fake IRS Phone Demand Scam
By 6.11.14
Remember the scam that we kept hearing about during tax season, where victims received a phone call from a person pretending to represent the Internal Revenue Service who demanded immediate payment on a prepaid debit card? People just keep on falling for it. Yes, even now that most people have turned in their tax returns. [More]
CFPB Opens Inquiry Into Mobile Financial Services’ Impact On Low-Income Consumers
By 6.11.14
Is the convenience of mobile banking leaving underserved and unbanked consumers in the dust? That’s an issue that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking into. [More]
FCC Chairman: FCC Should Preempt State Laws That Ban Or Restrict Municipal Broadband
By 6.11.14
Broadband competition in the United States stinks. One alternative is for local entities — cities and municipalities — to create their own public networks, when big companies like Comcast don’t or won’t serve them. But in 40% of states, there are laws on the books implicitly or explicitly forbidding public broadband. This week, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler appears to be making good on his earlier remarks and is directly challenging those state laws. [More]
Victims Of Saturn Ion Crash Accuse GM Of Letting Driver Plead Guilty To Accident She Didn’t Cause
By 6.10.14
The driver of a Saturn Ion who pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide, and the family of her boyfriend who was killed in the 2004 crash, have sued General Motors in federal court, alleging the car maker knew of the ignition problem that caused the crash but sat and watched while the driver was prosecuted. [More]
“Broadband For America” Members Didn’t Know Group Was Front For Anti-Neutrality Cable Industry
By 6.10.14
Last week, we told you about the handful of in-name-only broadband advocacy groups that are funded by the cable and wireless industries and who are pushing its boneheaded talking points about net neutrality and how it will bring about the end of days if enacted (it won’t). We also pointed out how the member list of the questionably named Broadband For America coalition is littered with organizations — from nonexistent websites to a tile company and an Ohio inn — that are out of place next to Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and pals. Now, some of those BFA members are denouncing the coalition’s stance on net neutrality, or saying they had no idea why they were listed as coalition members to begin with. [More]
Health Officials Make It Official: Makers Of Infant Formula Must Test For Germs
By 6.9.14
Back in February, the United States Food and Drug Administration announced an interim rule covering infant formula that would require manufacturers to test for certain contaminants, as well as ensure that the products contain the right amount of nutrients. Today the agency announced that the new policy is set to be finalized. [More]
FTC: Marketers Deceived Consumers About BrainStrong Supplement’s Memory Improvement Claims
By 6.9.14
When a supplement sounds too good to be true, it mostly likely is. And deceiving consumers about a product’s wondrous powers isn’t looked upon lightly by federal regulators. The marketers of BrainStrong Adult dietary supplement found that out the hard way. [More]
SEC Fines Brokerage Firm $2M For Improper Use Of Customer Data
By 6.6.14
When a company breaks its promise of securing your personal information, that’s a problem. When the company does so for three years and used consumer trading data for its own benefit, that elicits a hefty fine from U.S. regulators. [More]
Op-Eds In Favor Of Cable Company F*ckery Are Bought & Paid For By Cable Industry
By 6.6.14
Most of media coverage surrounding the net neutrality — or rather, cable company f*ckery — issue raise concerns about the current FCC plan, which would create an unbalanced, non-neutral Internet where the quality of data delivery depends on how much the sender is paying. A number of op-ed pieces have popped up in recent weeks cheering the plan on, or claiming that broadband competition is just fine (hint: it isn’t), but these are just fictions sponsored by the cable and telecom industries. [More]
GM Admits Incompetence In Ignition Debacle, Denies Cover-Up
By 6.5.14
This morning, General Motors CEO Mary Barra discussed the findings of the car maker’s internal report on an ignition switch defect that went without a recall for more than a decade and has resulted in at least 13 deaths. The company’s findings claim that while GM screwed up big-time, there was no attempt by executives to cover the problem up. [More]
GSK To Pay $105 Million To Settle Advair, Paxil, Wellbutrin Disputes
By 6.4.14
Drug biggie GlaxoSmithKline has been slapped with another huge settlement for its questionable marketing tactics. This time, the pharma company has agreed to pay $105 million to resolve claims made by attorneys general from 45 states regarding the selling of asthma drug Advair and antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin. [More]
Before You Eat That, Check The FDA Flickr Account For Warnings About Recalled Products
By 6.4.14
With this that and the other thing getting recalled on what feels like a daily basis, maybe you feel like you don’t have the time to stay abreast of what foods aren’t safe to eat. That’s why the Food and Drug Administration has started its very own Flickr account to alert consumers when products are recalled. The more you know, the less you end up clinging to the bathroom floor for dear life in extreme gastrointestinal distress. H/T to The Verge [FDA Recalled Products 2014 on Flickr] [More]
Netflix Tests Passive-Aggressive Buffering Messages To Call Out Slow ISPs
By 6.4.14
When your streaming video of Charles In Charge comes in pixelated and is regularly interrupted by pauses for buffering, is it the streaming service or your ISP? New messages being tested by Netflix attempt to point the finger straight at the other guy. [More]
