The top scam reported to the Better Business Bureau is the tax scam, also known as the IRS scam, which was responsible for about one in four reports to BBB Scam Tracker during its first year of operation. However, the BBB has seen a drop in new reports on this... Read more →
Recently, I warned readers about scam artists taking advantage of the political season by launching a variety of dangerous schemes. One going around in my area is targeting people with Asian names. Pretending to be from an Asian organization, the caller tells consumers that they aren’t registered to vote. When... Read more →
The nation’s largest nursing home pharmacy, Omnicare Inc., has agreed to pay $28.125 million to resolve charges that it received kickbacks from Abbott Laboratories in exchange for promoting the prescription drug, Depakote, for nursing home patients. “Every day, elderly nursing home residents suffering from dementia rely on the independent judgment... Read more →
In this week's roundup of baby boomer blogs, we say goodbye to some people and some old passions, and we say hello to a few new efforts. One blogger lost her mother-in-law, while another said goodbye to a blog and launched a new one that resulted in a book. Other... Read more →
Samsung is recalling 1.9 million Galaxy Note7 smartphones. This includes 1 million Galaxy Note7s recalled on Sept. 15. The lithium-ion battery in the smartphones can overheat and catch fire, posing serious fire and burn hazard to consumers. Samsung has received 96 reports of batteries in Note7 phones overheating in the... Read more →
Recently, my favorite mug for drinking tea got broken. It was sitting on the counter and came crashing to the kitchen floor when something fell out of the cupboard and hit it. When I was in college, several students taking bacteriology told me cracked dishes are a breeding ground for... Read more →
Appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh, a George W. Bush appointee, writes an opinion saying the structure of a federal consumer watchdog agency is unconstitutional A federal three-judge panel ruled the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional, but said the agency could continue to operate. The agency’s structure... Read more →
Scammers know people pay attention to warning signs, such as the car’s “check engine” light, railroad crossing gates, and weather alerts. So fraudster use warnings to get grab your attention. At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal court temporarily shut down and froze the assets of an operation that... Read more →
Comcast Corp. will pay $2.3 million to resolve charges that the company billed cable TV customers for services and equipment they didn’t ask for. “It is basic that a cable bill should include charges only for services and equipment ordered by the customer – nothing more and nothing less,” Travis... Read more →
The rains have come to the Seattle area where I live, so I was out in my garden today picking the last of the tomatoes. I had many gardening successes this year: a couple of dozen zucchini, a few larger than I would have liked; lots of Swiss chard and... Read more →