NetSpend, one of the nation’s largest providers of prepaid debit cards, will pay $53 million to resolve federal regulator’s accusations that it misled users about access to funds deposited to the cards. [More]
misleading advertising
NetSpend To Pay $53M To Resolve Allegations It Misled Prepaid Card Customers
By 4.3.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Pressure Mounts For Tesla To Stop Using The Term “Autopilot”
By 11.29.16
What does the term “autopilot” mean to you? For many people, it applies to a machine that can steer itself with minimal human intervention, but for electric carmaker Tesla it’s a marketing term to describe a feature that is decidedly not hands-off — and which consumer safety advocates believe can cause potentially dangerous confusion.
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Lumosity Ordered To Quit Claiming Their Games Make Users Smarter, Prevent Dementia
By 1.5.16
Improving every day at a casual mobile or computer game might make you feel like you’ve accomplished something, but does it make you smarter? It’s possible, but if recent ads from Lumosity made you wonder how a company can legally claim that playing a simple game can help stave off Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, well, they can’t. As a result, Lumosity must pay $2 million to customers. There is also a court-ordered $50 million penalty involved, but that has been suspended because Lumosity doesn’t have the money to pay it. [More]
Consumer Advocates Ask Regulators To Investigate T-Mobile Over Advertising, Debt Collection Practices
By 12.8.15
Those two-year mobile phone contracts we all signed for so long became a relic of the past pretty quickly over the last two years, with national providers all abandoning ship. T-Mobile moved to “contract freedom” almost two years ago now, and has since then continued to make a big deal over the fact that their users are neither locked into time-locked agreements nor face old-school high data overage fees. [More]
Scientists Say Elderly Get Scammed More Because Their Gullibility Detectors Wear Down With Age
By 8.20.12
The elderly have long been desirable prey for scammers — but why? Is it because they’re perceived as lonely or their access to disposable income? A group of scientists have introduced a new theory in a study of older people that says it’s just because our gullibility detectors simply get worn down as we age. [More]
EA's Advertisement Is A Tad Misleading
By 11.10.09
Seth sent us this screengrab of an ad he found on Fark in which Electronic Arts is offering games for less than $20. Problem is, none of the games pictured — The Sims 3, Need for Speed Shift and FIFA 10, hot, recently-released games all — can be had for any cheaper than $40 at the EA Store or any other retail venue other than the back of some guy’s van.
This Furniture Store Uses Creative Math
By 7.1.08
Wow, look at this nice five-piece bedroom set. Only $599! Not bad, especially when the description says it’s normally $1800. Five different pieces—that would fill a bedroom with a lot of cheap class! Now let’s put the fine print filter on it:
