Hidden fees more annoying than dog poop
Posted: Wednesday, December 2 2009 at 02:16 pm CT by Bob Sullivan
Noisy neighbors, traffic jams, and long checkout lines would find their way onto anyone's list of daily irritations. But when it comes to really raising people's blood pressure, nothing can compete with hidden fees, according to a new survey by Consumer Reports. In fact, companies taking money in sneaky ways was rated more than twice as annoying as another classic irritant: inaccurate weather reports.
Corporate misbehavior apparently smells so bad to consumers that hidden fees even far outpaced unscooped dog poop.
Negative interactions with companies dominated the rankings – which should be no surprise to regular Red Tape readers. "Not getting a human on the phone" ranked second (Visit GetHuman.com for help with that), and "incomprehensible bills," cracked the top five.
"We were surprised by that. I guess that the Al Rokers of the world are safe," said Mark Kotkin, director of survey research at Consumer Reports. "But a lot of the electronics industries and financial industries were hit pretty hard, at least the billing part of those companies."
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Facebook to overhaul privacy structure
Posted: Tuesday, December 1 2009 at 09:57 pm CT by Bob Sullivan
Facebook is about to begin a major overhaul of its privacy structure, the company said in an announcement posted on the service Tuesday night.
The firm said it will be eliminating the familiar regional networks that often govern which users can and can't see content posted on the site. Instead, the new model will be simpler, allowing users to grant permission to browse personal photos and entries based on three tiers -- friends, friends of your friends, or everyone.
Facebook, which initially grew out of groups defined by college boundaries, has long outgrown that model, the firm said.
"Some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we've concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy," said Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg in a post published Tuesday evening. "Almost 50 percent of all Facebook users are members of regional networks, so this is an important issue for us. If we can build a better system, then more than 100 million people will have even more control of their information."
Zuckerberg said the firm will also be adding more precise tools for controlling privacy settings. Rather than depending exclusively on generic settings, users will be able to set privacy restrictions on individuals photos and posts.
The firm will remind users to check their privacy settings to make sure there are no unintended consequences from the change. The biggest concern would be the removal of restrictions on some content that might make it available to users who until this point could not see it -- such as photos of college friends suddenly becoming visible to work colleagues.
"We've worked hard to build controls that we think will be better for you, but we also understand that everyone's needs are different. We'll suggest settings for you based on your current level of privacy, but the best way for you to find the right settings is to read through all your options and customize them for yourself," Zuckerberg wrote.
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Will piracy crackdown bring iPod border checks?
Posted: Tuesday, December 1 2009 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Laptop computers examined by border guards looking for pirated software. IPods seized at airport security lines on mere suspicion of containing illegally downloaded music. Home Web users hit with the Internet death penalty -- cut off from access -- by Internet providers acting at the direction of other U.S. corporations. All because of secret trade negotiations being conducted now by dozens of nations, led by U.S. officials.
That's the doomsday scenario being painted by online civil liberties advocates who say they've been shut out of discussions that could radically alter the way consumers use technology. Supported by firms that want to protect their intellectual property rights to movies, music, books and software, the talks are designed to create an international agreement that would make stopping and prosecuting offenders much easier.
But among the most likely outcomes, warns Rashmi Rangnath of advocacy group "Public Knowledge," is a new legal regime that requires Internet service providers to become an extension of law enforcement, acting as judge and jury while punishing alleged digital pirates.
"You would have Internet providers substituting their own decisions for law enforcement decisions," she said. "The result will be an agreement ... that pushes the boundaries of what (Internet users) can't do."
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Life after overdrafts: ‘advances’ at 120% APR
Posted: Tuesday, November 24 2009 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
With the Federal Reserve ordering severe constraints on bank overdraft fees and Congress considering even tougher rules, U.S. banks face a serious dilemma: How to replace the potential loss of billions in fee revenue?
Consumer groups that have been fighting the costly “courtesy overdraft protection” fear that banks have hit on a replacement that might be even worse – a crop of products with names like “Direct Deposit Advance” that are being pushed by lenders such as U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and Fifth Third Bank. The advances have a stated annual percentage rate of 120 percent but -- if calculated as a traditional loan product -- could have an APR of well over 1,000 percent.
"Banks are trying to figure out a way to keep getting high fees from consumers once the Fed and Congress tighten up overdrafts, and I think this will be the next big abuse," said Lauren Saunders, managing attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.
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After data loss, ID theft risk soars
Posted: Friday, November 20 2009 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
I call them Dear John data letters, because of the bad news they bring and their decidedly warm and fuzzy tone.
"Dear Consumer. We've lost your personal information. It's fallen off a truck/was on a laptop that was lost/was stolen by a hacker. We're sorry and we promise to be better in the future. Good luck."
About one in nine consumers receives a Dear John data letter each year, and nearly half of all consumers have received at least one since the year 2000, when California law forced these kinds of disclosures on corporations and government agencies, according to a new study. The letters have become so familiar that many folks just ignore them and relegate them to the junk mail heap. But that's a big mistake. That same study shows consumers who receive such a notice are four times more likely to be hit with identity theft than members of the general population.
In fact, U.S. adults who get a Dear John data letter have a one in five chance of being victimized in the next 12 months, according to the survey, conducted by financial services research firm Javelin Research.
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Confessions of a credit card telemarketer
Posted: Tuesday, November 17 2009 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
What if there were a way to have your credit card debt erased if you lost your job or became disabled? That's the pitch behind debt cancellation, a service offered by many credit card issuers and retailers.
Debt cancellation doesn’t come cheap: it costs between $1 and $2 per $100 balance. A consumer with a $3,000 balance, for example, could pay nearly $60 a month for debt cancellation service.
That might not sound like such a great deal, but thousands of consumers sign up anyway. Why? One telemarketer who sells the service told msnbc.com recently that there’s only one reason: Sellers intentionally confuse cardholders about the programs and their costs.
"I hate flat-out lying to someone, but that's exactly what we do, 150 calls a day," said the telemarketer, who requested anonymity out of fear of losing his job. "I have seen so many people ripped off that I had to attempt to let people know."
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Now's your chance to spy on Google
Posted: Tuesday, November 10 2009 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
If you only have time to visit one new Web site this week, make it the new Google dashboard. Last week, the search engine behemoth announced the new feature, which helps Web users keep track of all the ways Google keeps track of them.
Visiting this single page gives Googlers centralized access to privacy settings on all the various Google applications -- Gmail, Calendar, Google Docs, YouTube, etc. That's important, because you might not realize that you opened a YouTube account four years ago and divulged your age or zip code -- and that now that information could be available to all other Google products, or even to other Google users.
"The scale and level of detail of the Dashboard is unprecedented, and we're delighted to be the first Internet company to offer this — and we hope it will become the standard," Google wrote in its announcement.
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'Fakeosphere' latest Web trap for consumers
Posted: Wednesday, November 4 2009 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
This blog-like service is really an ad for a Web sales company.
Click on a weight-loss, work-at-home or acai berry ad and you’re likely to land on what looks like a blog or discussion board. Regular folks appear to be debating the merits of the product – you might even see some contrary opinions. But in the end, the bloggers and their readers always win over the skeptics and persuade them to buy the product from a convenient nearby link.
Welcome to the “fakeosphere.” Internet marketing veteran and analyst Jay Weintraub says fake blogs – or flogs – fake news sites and manufactured testimonials are the fastest-growing segment of Internet advertising. He thinks it’s a $500 million-a-year industry – and he compares it to the explosive growth of spam a decade ago.
“I don’t think people realize how big this has become, and how quickly,” said Weintraub, adding that a popular top flog campaign can generate 10,000 daily sales.
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Wicked new wrinkle: Scammers impersonate FTC officials
Posted: Friday, October 30 2009 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Criminals are stealing the Federal Trade Commission's identity and using it to scam consumers around the country, the agency warned on Thursday. Scam artists are even impersonating individual FTC employees -- in one case, a criminal posed as a recently deceased press officer -- to enhance their deception.
"Our good name is being used to defraud people, and that's very disturbing," said Betsy Broder, head of the FTCs privacy and identity theft division. But the use of individual FTC employees' names as bait is particularly worrisome. "Some of our people have been very shaken up once they find out their personal names were used. ... This is particularly pernicious because it gives people a sense that this is legitimate and reliable."
In one case, a 67-year-old building inspector from Washington state named Ralph (he requested that his last name not be used) sent $1,300 to a criminal who identified himself as FTC Secretary Donald Clark from the "fraud division." The imposter said the agency was overseeing a sweepstakes, and the money was needed to pay for insurance on delivery of a $500,000 prize that Ralph had won.
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The right way to break up with your credit card
Posted: Tuesday, October 27 2009 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Stephanie Skinner recently received one of those letters that credit card account holders dread; her 11 percent rate had been raised to 29.99 percent. And when she called Citibank to complain, she was placed squarely between a rock and a hard place.
Accept the higher rate, she was told, or close the card and accept the damage to her credit score.
"I said to them, 'You're giving me the option to either shoot myself in the foot or shoot myself in the hand. That's just unacceptable,'” said Skinner, from Greenville, S.C.
She holds only two credit cards, so the hit to her credit score from closing one would be significant. "What am I supposed to do?" she wondered.
It's a frequent question for American consumers these days. Half of all account holders say they've been hit either with a higher rate or a lower limit in recent months. While consumers are customarily given the choice to decline the new terms and close the account, doing so flies in the face of all standard advice from personal finance experts because closing credit cards usually has a negative impact on credit scores.
“Credit utilization” is one of five important factors used to determine a consumer's score. Closing a card with a $10,000 limit means the consumer has $10,000 less in credit. If that consumer owes $5,000 on a second card with a $10,000 limit, their utilization just shot from 25 to 50 percent, a credit score killer.
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