Hundreds of millions of years ago, the seven continents that we know today were one big land glob called Pangaea. When choosing a name for an international operation to nab sellers of unapproved drugs, regulators and law enforcement agencies took this idea of one united world and called their project “Pangea,” or the International Internet Week of Action. Led by Interpol, agencies took action to look for unapproved drugs passing in the mail. [More]
Government Policy
FDA And International Enforcement Superfriends Take Down Online Peddlers Of Unapproved Drugs
By 6.10.16
Elizabeth Warren Says Accreditor Of For-Profit Colleges Has “Dismal Record Of Failure”
By 6.10.16
Only days after a report found that an organization responsible for accrediting a number of for-profit colleges had engaged in a “pattern” of providing approval to schools with bad track records, resulting in these colleges receiving nearly $6 billion in federal funds, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is joining the chorus of voices calling on the Department of Education to take action. [More]
Tesla Denies Report Of Possible Safety Defect In Model S & “Troubling” Nondisclosure Agreements
By 6.10.16
Yesterday, regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had begun looking into possible issues with the suspension on Tesla’s Model S sedans, but the high-end electric vehicle maker is currently denying that there are any safety issues with the Model S suspensions, or that there is a formal investigation into the matter. [More]
New Legislation Targets Deadly Furniture Tip-Overs
By 6.9.16
Each year, some 25,000 Americans — mostly children — are injured or killed from furniture and other household appliances that tip over or fall because they are not properly secured. A new piece of legislation aims to reduce these potentially deadly incidents by establishing sturdier minimum standards. [More]
Telemarketer Tricked People Into Believing They Were Buying Cleaning Products To Help Disabled
By 6.9.16
Research has shown that shoppers may be more likely to purchase a particular product if they know that some of their money is going to a worthy cause, and some folks will take advantage of this tendency to trick people into purchasing thousands of dollars in household cleaning products under the guise of helping the disabled. [More]
Inspector General: FDA Still Takes Too Long To Recall Tainted Food Products
By 6.9.16
Five years ago, the Food Safety Modernization Act granted the Food and Drug Administration the statutory authority to compel food producers to recall tainted products. However, a new report from a federal investigator shows that people are falling ill while the FDA sometimes takes months to issue recalls, even after it has evidence of contamination. [More]
NHTSA: Self-Driving Cars Need To Be Twice As Safe In Order To Reduce Traffic Deaths
By 6.8.16
Proponents of self-driving vehicles claim the new technology will decrease the number of crashes occurring on the roadways, thereby reducing the number of driver and pedestrian deaths. But for that to happen, regulators say the new industry must take significant steps to improve autonomous vehicle safety. [More]
Nature Made Vitamins Recalled Over Salmonella, Staph Contamination Concerns
By 6.8.16
Some people believe that taking a daily vitamin can improve their health and boost their immune systems. What they probably don’t envision when popping one of those pills or gummies is becoming ill. For that reason, Pharmavite is recalling several varieties of its popular Nature Made vitamins that may be contaminated with salmonella or staph. [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]
IRS Relaunches “Get Transcript” Online Tool, Promises It’s More Secure
By 6.8.16
A year after the Internal Revenue Service said hackers used stolen Social Security numbers and other information gleaned from the agency’s system in an attempt to access hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ accounts, the agency says that the Get Transcript tool at the heart of the attack is back online. [More]
Best Buy CEO Sells Half Of His Vested Shares, Remains Totally Confident In Company
By 6.7.16
Remain calm, investors, shoppers, and employees of Best Buy. Okay, yes, Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly sold half of the shares in the company that he owns that are vested and that he’s legally allowed to sell, but that’s just about his personal investment choices, not meant as a statement about the future of the company. Hey, why is the stock price falling? [More]
Is ITT Tech Headed For A Collapse? School Required To Set Aside Funds Just In Case
By 6.7.16
Trouble continues to mount for ITT Educational Services. The for-profit college operator behind the ITT Technical Institute chain, which is already under investigation by federal and state agencies for a slew of abusive and misleading practices, must now have enough money on hand just in case it’s forced to close its doors. [More]
Report: Accreditor Allowed $5.7B In Federal Funds To Go To Schools Under Investigation
By 6.7.16
Less than a week after California’s Attorney General urged the Department of Education to revoke federal recognition of Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) following its continued approval of for-profit education chain Corinthian Colleges Inc. up until the day the now defunct schools closed their doors, a new report reveals ACICS’s “pattern” of providing approval to schools with bad track records, resulting in the funneling of more than $6 billion in federal funds to those schools. [More]
Payment Processor Ignored Red Flags, Allowed Clients To Withdraw Funds Illegally
By 6.6.16
If you’re in the business of processing payments, you have a certain obligation to look into any sort of signs that your clients may be abusing the system or illegally taking funds from customers’ bank accounts. Failing to do so can land you in some pretty hot water with federal regulators. [More]
4 Ways To Avoid The “Student Loan Tax” Scam
By 6.6.16
Being on the hook for thousands of dollars in student loan debt is pressure enough for most people. They shouldn’t also have to worry about being taken advantage of by “student loan tax” fraudsters in what appears to be the latest iteration of the IRS impersonation scam. [More]
Anti-Robocall “ROBOCOP Act” Gets New Life In Senate
By 6.6.16
Two months ago, Rep. Jackie Speier (CA) introduced the ROBOCOP Act, a bill that would compel phone service providers to finally make it easier for customers to block automated and prerecorded robocalls. With that bill sitting idly in committee — and executives like AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson incorrectly claiming they need permission to deploy robo-blockers — maybe it’s time for ROBOCOP 2: The Senate Version. [More]
John Oliver Buys $15M In Medical Debt, Then Forgives It
By 6.6.16
We can tell you about the growing problem of medical debt and how hospitals are suing thousands of patients for having the gall to be both sick and poor, or how debt collectors screw-up and use illegal tactics to get paid for debts they often can’t even prove that anyone owes. But that’s nothing compared to the sight of a goofy English guy forgiving $15 million in medical debt he bought for pennies on the dollar. [More]
Feds Sue Gold, Silver Investment Company That Allegedly Bilked Millions From Retirees
By 6.3.16
Buying gold and silver is in many ways no different than anything else: You pay your money and expect to get what you paid for within a reasonable amount of time. Unlike most other products, when that gold and silver never arrives, you could be out thousands of dollars.
[More]
