The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Many Americans think the threat of covid-19 will continue for months, survey shows

Most Americans are still concerned about the spread of covid-19 in their communities – and they expect the pandemic to continue to be a concern into 2021, according to a survey from Consumer Reports, a consumer research, testing, and advocacy organization.

A majority of Americans – 78 percent – remain concerned about the continued spread of covid in their area over the next month, including 44 percent who are “very concerned.”

The number of people who have been “very concerned” about covid rose mid-summer as the number of covid cases across the United States spiked. Forty-one percent of adults were “very concerned” about the pandemic in May and June. The figure rose to 53 percent who were “very concerned” in July, and then dropped to 44 percent in August.

Online Training Academy agrees to forgive student debt and pay more than $10 million

Online Training Academy hyped a “patented” training program that promised to help people earn “big money” by paying big money to OTA for trainings costing as much as $50,000.

OTA’s lavish earnings claims often came with encouragement for people to go into debt to pay for OTA’s trainings.

A settlement announced Tuesday with the Federal Trade Commission means debt forgiveness for some people who owe money to OTA.

College Board sharing student information inappropriately, Consumer Reports says

The College Board appears to be in violation of its own policies on protecting the privacy of college students, Consumer Reports found in an investigation.  

The College Board is sending personally identifiable student information to major technology companies and ad platforms including Adobe, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Snapchat, and Yahoo, according to researchers at Consumer Reports’ Digital Lab.

“College-bound students don’t have any choice but to transact with the College Board – which is what makes these findings so concerning,” said Ben Moskowitz, director of the Digital Lab at Consumer Reports.

Summer is a good time to clean out your freezer

My raspberry patch is producing well this year as it often does. However, my daughter and her family aren’t visiting during the summer like they usually do. The result? I’m the only one eating raspberries, so I’ve frozen 18 pints and one quart of my favorite berries so far.

I began running out of glass pint jars, which I use to store things in, so I thought it would be a good time to clean out my freezer.

What did I find? Some frozen turkey burger, a handful of strawberries, and about a serving of raspberries that were edible. I found a pint of raspberries that were too old and about a dozen other items that also were too old. I also took out five gel packs. No need to pay to keep them frozen when I seldom use them.

So, if you have a freezer that’s part of your refrigerator or an extra refrigerator or freezer in the garage, I recommend cleaning them out. Then you’ll have space for items from your garden or from summer supermarket sales.

Here are the steps for cleaning your freezer from Mississippi State University Extension:

Watch out for phony offers for work-at-home jobs targeting college students

Students at colleges and universities are being targeted by a work-at-home employment scam through emails that appear to be sent from a college or university. The scammers obtain personal information from the student while posing as a college or university representative. They convince students to cash counterfeit checks and send them the money.

“Students who fall victim to this scam could face serious repercussions to their financial stability and credit record,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. “I am urging all students currently enrolled at Florida colleges and universities to take extra precaution when receiving online job offers.”

The scheme involves scammers sending online job advertisements offering college students an administrative position, tricking the student into believing the email is from a college or university representative by using an email address ending in “.edu.” As part of the scheme, the student receives counterfeit checks in the mail, or by email, and is instructed to deposit the checks into a personal checking account. The scammers then direct the student to withdraw the money and make a payment necessary for the job. Often, after the student sends the money, the checks are confirmed to be fraudulent by the bank.

Beware of scams targeting minors

It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Young people and parents need to be aware of online scams targeting minors. Just like adults, scammers target kids through online platforms, such as apps, games, and social networking websites.

Young people are often attractive targets for scammers because they may have unused Social Security numbers, don’t generally check their credit reports, and are used to sharing information online. Scammers may pose as someone else in order to get young online users to voluntarily share information.

“Scammers don’t discriminate,” said Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford. “All users, even young adults, should be cautious about sharing their personal information. If we can help young people recognize these issues now, they can be proactive and protect their personal information, which may be their most valuable asset. The first step is to realize how much of your personal information is already in the  public domain.”

Department of Education’s latest idea for student loan relief is deeply flawed, consumer groups say

A Trump administration rule that denies loan relief to many students cheated by their schools is deeply flawed and should be overturned, Public Citizen and the Project on Predatory Student Lending told a court Tuesday. The groups represent student borrowers in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s new “partial relief” rule.

The rule details how the department will decide whether and how much relief to give borrowers who have demonstrated that they were cheated by the schools they attended. Under the rule, most borrowers whose claims are approved receive only partial or no relief on their student-loan debt.

The lead plaintiff, Sammia Pratt, attended a Corinthian-owned Everest school in Florida for accounting, based on the false promise that she’d be able to transfer credits to the University of Central Florida.

College students are being targeted by coronavirus scams

If you’re a college student, you’re probably not on campus. However, scammers are still trying to find you.

You or your friends may have received an email saying it’s from the Financial Department of your university. It tells you to click on a link to get a message about your covid-19 economic stimulus check – and it needs to be opened through a portal link requiring your university login.

Don’t do it, said Ari Lazarus, consumer education specialist for the Federal Trade Commission, because it’s a phishing scam. If you click to “log in,” you could be giving your user name, password, or other personal information to scammers, while possibly downloading malware onto your device.

How can you spot and avoid scams like these? Lazarus advises before you click on a link or share any of your sensitive information:

Education Department and Betsy DeVos are being sued by student borrower groups for seizing student borrowers’ paychecks during covid-19 pandemic

In a class action lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Betsy DeVos, student borrower groups are asking the department to stop garnishing student borrowers’ wages.

Illegal garnishments

The CARES Act prohibits the department from garnishing wages of student borrowers through September 30, 2020. The lawsuit was filed last week on behalf of distressed borrowers whose paychecks continue to be seized in violation of federal law.

“With the President at her side, Secretary DeVos promised in March that she had stopped federal wage garnishments altogether, which is what the CARES Act requires,” said Alex Elson, senior counsel at Student Defense. “The truth is, she keeps on taking wages from the paychecks of Americans struggling to make ends meet. We sued to make her stop.”

FTC bans three defendants from selling student debt relief and telemarketing

Three defendants in a student loan debt relief scheme have been ordered to pay millions to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges that they deceived consumers by promising to reduce or eliminate their student loan debt.

A federal court found that Brian Colombana, Impetus Enterprise Inc., and Fig Tree & Co. deceptively marketed student loan debt relief services, tricked consumers into paying illegal upfront fees, and failed to deliver the promised debt relief.

The court entered judgments against the defendants of nearly $11 million. They’re banned from selling debt relief products and services and telemarketing.