Coronavirus breeds device viruses as hackers seek to exploit the fear and uncertainty of the possible physical pandemic. Consumers should look for mandatory arbitration clauses before buying. Loan sites get hit for misleading rankings and your financial health depends on baby steps. Coronavirus Goes Phishing Mimecast discovered a sample phishing email, showing attackers were disseminating…
Free tax filings were not widely known among low-to-medium income taxpayers as some commercial tax preparation services did their level best to hide them until the IRS got pissed. Trump’s trade war has made every American a loser to some degree, small to big, but nonetheless, losers. Despite demand for housing and low rate mortgages,…
Holiday season closes amidst a blockbuster turnout for small retail businesses globally. Even though the shortened holiday season may have pushed retail sales down a tad, business owners remain confident about their businesses going forward. Scrooge remained with us as organized crime hijacked truckloads of holiday stuff and gift card scam artists manifest themselves bigly…
Identities of infants, including the baby’s full name, Social Security number, date of birth, and mother’s maiden name will fetch $300 or more on the black market or dark web. It is ideal for tax return fraud since it’s likely the data has not been added to the IRS database. However, all children are at…
Identity theft is the biggest pain-in-the-tookus for Americans, affecting more than 500,000 per year. Unlike hacking your computer, cell phone or other devices, identity theft is usually low-tech committed by unsophisticated slime balls. Slimeball Methods Consider the late night dumpster diver in search of bills, bank mail, and other documents containing personal information and, if…
Only about half of Americans will celebrate Valentine’s Day this year but those who do will likely shell out more than $150 with flowers, an evening out and greeting cards topping the must-do list. U.S consumers are projected to spend about $4 billion on jewelry, $3.5 billion on an evening out, $2 billion on clothing…
Insurance fraud is an $80-billion crime annually and growing each year, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. If you have any thoughts about burning down your house or business to collect insurance money simply review these real-life, chilling examples: Insurance Fraud Rap Sheet Driven to steal. A vast fraud ring run by Felix Filenger…
Robocall scammers continue to grow in sophistication such as “neighborhood spoofing” allowing robocalls to look like local calls. Stressed out student loan borrowers are prominent on the radar of scammers. The scams are also fooling some people because it is open enrollment for many health insurance plans. Healthcare Robo Scam The scams are fooling some…
College students and young single Americans tend to be broke most of the time and often find themselves living with a roommate or two and may have to deal with dorm room pilfering. So, even though you may like or even “trust” your roommate(s) — WATCH YOUR STUFF. Things have a way of disappearing in…
Operating a network of 20 companies, Hydra Financial and its principals allegedly collected on fake, short-term, small-dollar online loans, bilking hundreds of thousands of U.S. Consumers out of $227.7 million, generating approximately $69.6 million in gross profits, over a nearly 10-year period. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) alleged that the defendants obtained consumers’ sensitive…
