We occasionally have the TV turned on in the background here at the Consumerist Batcave, so we know that anyone in the market for a sketchy debt-relief firm has many, many options to avoid calling. But now there are a few fewer questionable companies littering the daytime airwaves because the Federal Trade Commission has halted the operations of four services that allegedly made false claims about being lawyers, debited money from people who did not actually order the services — oh, and failed to get any significant debt relief for the customers that actually signed up. [More]
money for nothing
Not The Best Idea To Gamble That $1.5 Million You Got Due To Bank Of America’s Error
By 6.15.12
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — there’s no such thing as free money. And if you do find yourself in the possession of millions of dollars in cash because your bank messed up, don’t take that dough and gamble it all away. It’s not going to end well. [More]
Would You Return $1,800 In Cash You Found At An ATM?
By 5.22.12
Just imagine — no need to insert your card or tap in your PIN, there’s money sitting right there, sticking out of an ATM deposit slot, waiting for you to pocket it. Would you do it, or would you go the honest route like a Florida woman who turned in the $1,800 in cash she found? [More]
Woman Sentenced To 15 Years In Jail For Swindling $30 Million In Telemarketing Timeshare Scheme
By 1.9.12
Telemarketing itself isn’t a crime (more’s the pity) but using that method to cheat 22,000 people out of around $30 million sure is, as one one woman sentenced to 15 years in prison found out recently. [More]
Target Charges Me Restocking Fee On Returned Netbook, Resells It Before It Hits Shelves
By 11.23.10
Many consumers believe restocking fees on returns, which can be 15 percent of the purchase price or more, are a con run by retailers to discourage people from lugging their unwanted stuff back into the store. But theoretically the fees are at least somewhat merited, given the fact that the store may have to sell the item at an open-box discount and spend the manpower to ready the item for resale. [More]
Watch Out For Sneaky New Credit Card Fees
By 8.2.10
Remember the CARD Act, that shiny new law that’s supposed to stop credit card issuers from hitting you with all kinds of nasty fees and force them to disclose all of their terms? Well, even if you do, it looks like the card issuers have forgotten all about it. They’re working overtime to come up with a raft of new charges on things that aren’t covered by the new law, like annual fees and cash advances. [More]
Walmart Is Going Fee-Happy On My Money Orders
By 2.18.10
Dan and his wife Kat are geniuses because they guilt Kat’s parents into giving them money orders, but their plans are starting to be foiled because Walmart has suddenly started sticking them with check cashing fees. [More]
Banks Pay Foreclosed Homeowners Not To Trash Houses
By 7.27.09
Stuck as a third wheel at catch-up lunch with my wife and her friend this weekend, my ears pricked up when the friend dropped a tantalizing bit of foreclosure trivia — when it finally comes time to kick you out, banks will hand over a ton of money to bribe you into not vandalizing the place.
