Although the number of agreements between credit card issuers and higher education institutions are on the decline, many of the schools that do have such agreements may be in violation of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act by not making those contracts publicly and readily available to consumers, according to a new investigation by a consumer group finds. [More]
INVESTIGATIONS
FBI Now Investigating Possible Fraudulent Federal Tax Returns From TurboTax
By 2.12.15
Days after TurboTax resumed e-filing of all state tax returns following a third-party security expert’s finding that fraudulent activity reported by state tax officials did not result from a breach of Intuit’s own systems, federal regulators announced they would take a look for themselves. [More]
Yelp Says That The FTC Investigation Of Yelp Is Complete
By 1.6.15
The Federal Trade Commission has received a lot of complaints about Yelp––more than 2,000 from 2008 through last spring. These led to what Yelp calls “a deep inquiry into our business practices” by the FTC, which has lasted almost a year. Today, Yelp announced that the feds have closed their investigation, and won’t be taking any action against Yelp regarding its business practices. [More]
Regulators Close Investigations Into 600,000 Ford, GM Vehicles Without Initiating Recalls
By 11.25.14
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration generally opens inquiries into car manufacturers after receiving numerous consumer complaints about an issue. Those investigations often lead to some type of safety recall. However, that wasn’t the case for two recently closed probes of more than 600,000 Ford and General Motors vehicles. [More]
Regulators Investigating Honda, Nissan For Loss Of Power Steering Issues
By 11.12.14
Here’s the thing about power steering –– it helps drivers keep control of their vehicles, and when the system fails the likelihood of an accident increases. For those reasons, and after receiving numerous consumer complaints, regulators have opened two separate investigations into Honda and Nissan-produced vehicles that lose power steering capabilities. [More]
Regulators Investigating Honda Over Inaccuracies In Reporting Injury And Death Claims
By 11.4.14
Less than two weeks after Honda announced it would begin a third-party audit of potential inaccuracies in providing valuable information regarding death and injury claims to U.S. regulators, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened its own investigation into the car company’s reporting procedures. [More]
NHTSA Probes Lack Of Parts & Communication In Year-Old Dodge Recall
By 10.27.14
Nearly a year after Chrysler announced two recalls of Dodge Ram trucks, consumers are still waiting to have their vehicles fixed. The lack of parts and slow pace in remedying the steering issues has investigators with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration looking for answers. [More]
NHTSA Investigating Nearly One Million Ford Vehicles For Possible Power Steering Defect
By 10.7.14
The investigators over at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have had their work cut out for them this year. And that workload doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, as the regulator announced this week that it would be looking into power steering issues in nearly a million vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Co. [More]
Feds Subpoena GM Over Subprime Auto Loans
By 8.4.14
After recalling more than 30 million cars and facing a number of investigations, it’s probably safe to bet that General Motors Company would like to put 2014 in the rearview mirror. Before that’s possible the company will have to get through five more months and a new federal investigation into its financing unit regarding subprime auto loans. [More]
Regulators Investigating Hyundai Because Seatbelts And Airbags Are Supposed To Work
By 7.25.14
Since there’s no point in having seatbelts or airbags in a car if they don’t function when needed, the National Highway Traffic Administration is looking into an issue that could knock out these safety features in some Hyundai vehicles. [More]
GM Hasn’t Recalled Millions Of Trucks And SUVs Despite Four-Year Investigation Into Brake Line Failures
By 7.8.14
Although General Motors appears to a be on a safety recall-announcing spree, it has resisted recalling 1.8 million trucks and SUVs despite a four-year long investigation by federal regulators into an issue that can cause the brake lines to fail. While brake failures could lead to crashes –which one would assume is a safety issue – the manufacturer maintains the problem is a simply matter of routine maintenace [More]
Regulators Open Investigation Into Dodge Ram Because Locking Wheels Are A Cause For Concern
By 7.1.14
For the second time in as many months the Dodge Ram is at the center of a probe by U.S. regulators. This time an issue with the truck’s fastener can cause the rear axle to lock or detach, and in some cases cause the vehicle to enter an uncontrolled spin. [More]
NHTSA Probing Possible Brake Failure Issue On 200K Nissan Vehicles
By 5.27.14
When depressing the brake pedal, you expect your car to slow down, stop and then stay stopped until you lift your foot. But that apparently isn’t happening in some Nissan vehicles and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiated an investigation into the issue. [More]
27 Companies Plead Guilty In Massive International Auto Parts Price-Fixing Conspiracy
By 5.27.14
The largest criminal antitrust investigation in the history of the Justice Department just got larger. It has nothing to do with telecommunications or giant mergers or any exotic items, though; it’s all about auto parts. A worldwide price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracy related to those auto parts has resulted in 27 guilty pleas and over $2.3 billion in fines — and the investigation is still underway. [More]
Herbalife To Re-Train Distributors Not To Say Products Cure Brain Tumors
By 5.6.14
When you go to a meeting to learn more about potentially joining a multi-level marketing organization, you expect to hear testimonials about how the product has changed lives. You should not expect to hear about how the company’s products have cured brain tumors and performed other impossible feats. At least, that’s what Herbalife says after undercover reporters from ABC News filmed Herbalife distributors doing just that. [More]
In Spite Of Evidence To Contrary, AG Holder Claims “Too Big To Jail” Is A Myth
By 5.6.14
Is Attorney General Eric Holder all talk and no action? For the second time this year Holder has made it clear that the Justice Department does not believe that any corporation or executive is too big to jail. But an abundance of fines and a lack of actual prosecutions is enough to make one wonder if the declarations are just for show. [More]
Learn How To Build An Evil Internet Empire With This 1 Weird Trick!
By 7.31.13
If you’re like most people, you work hard to avoid clicking on the creepy “one weird trick” ads that advertise simple but amazing solutions to weight loss, car insurance, diabetes, small penises, and other modern woes. They wouldn’t be everywhere if they weren’t effective, but who is clicking? What happens when they do click? [More]
Worst Charities In America Give Charities A Bad Name
By 6.11.13 — Updated: 6.14.13
We might be experts on who the Worst Company in America is, but what about the worst charities in America? The Tampa Bay Times and the The Center for Investigative Reporting crunched on a bunch of data and figured out which American charities actually give the smallest proportion of their income out in cash aid. [More]
