News

2017

August

22

• Let consumers sue companies. When a data breach at Home Depot in 2014 led to losses for banks nationwide, a group of banks filed a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation. Companies have the choice of taking legal action together. Yet…

17

• How to make your house a smart home. Nearly everything in your home — including air-conditioners, thermostats, lights and garage doors — can be connected to the internet and be remotely controlled with a mobile device or smart speaker. But setting up a…

16

• New online scam targets tax preparers. Do you trust your tax preparer not to fall for this simple phishing scam?  The Internal Revenue Service is warning tax preparers about a new scam designed to steal their usernames and passwords. The IRS…

• Is LinkedIn trying to protect your data — or hoard it?. When you create a public profile on a social network such as LinkedIn, it isn't just your friends and contacts who can see that data. For better or for worse, other companies can legally download that information…

13

• Two online security steps you should stop putting off. No password will ever be impenetrable, and no online account can ever be fully secure. But password managers and two-factor authentication can get us as close as possible to that goal. And there’s no reason…

04

• Anonymous browsing data isn't as anonymous as you think. It’s a revelation that will shock precisely nobody: Your private data is not as private as you think.

03

• Congress should jump at chance to side with consumers. Fine print has never been the friend of consumers, and in recent years the perils have escalated as financial institutions have drawn up clauses that deny customers effective redress in disputes. To counteract that, the…

• There's money to be made in taking complaints. A new breed of human resources start-ups is cropping up to help companies figure out how their employees feel. Like Glint, Convercent lets companies send customized “pulse” surveys, gather confidential responses in real time, and…

01

• Consumer Action INSIDER - August 2017. The August 2017 issue of Consumer Action's monthly newsletter updates readers on a recent national net neutrality "day of action"; describes our congressional testimony in support of defrauded student loan borrowers; cautions against investing in settlements; describes our updated California LifeLine phone program publication; and more.

July

31

• Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks federal privacy complaint. A prominent privacy rights watchdog is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate a new Google advertising program that ties consumers’ online behavior to their purchases in brick-and-mortar stores.

27

• 2017s most common travel scams & how to avoid them. Anyone who is well travelled will tell you that, regardless of how prepared you are for your journey, it’s likely that you’ll come across a scam or two here and there – it’s more common…

26

• Republicans introduce bills to scrap new bank arbitration rule. Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced bills calling for the repeal of a just-announced regulation that would make it easier for consumers to bring class-action lawsuits against banks. The rule unveiled last…

• Lawmakers call for a net neutrality faceoff between Google and Comcast. For years, tech companies and Internet providers have been at each others' throats on Internet policy — and net neutrality especially. Now, House Republicans are teeing up a big showdown on the issue, inviting the biggest…

• Dust isn’t the only thing your Roomba is sucking up. The company behind the Roomba vacuum, iRobot, has grand plans to one day sell the mapping data its robot cleaner collects to giant technology companies like Google, Apple and Amazon.  Two models of the tiny…

25

• Stealing IDs and accounts using LINE app (Chinese). (星島日報報導)詐騙集團的手法層出不窮，近年來最常見的手段之一，是詐騙集團藉由盜用民眾的通訊軟體帳號，假冒他人傳送訊息借錢。近期，洛杉磯也有華裔居民接獲類似的詐騙訊息，而警方表示，若接獲可疑的訊息，務必打電話親自向對方查證。 根據台灣刑事警察局資料，詐騙集團第一步先入侵友人的臉書或其他通訊軟體，假冒成他向被害人詢問其電話號碼，再用該手機號碼在通訊軟體LINE上註冊成為新帳號。歹徒成功盜入受害人的帳號後，假冒成受害人的身分繼續向他人詐騙，形成一個惡性循環。 資料指出，LINE公司並不會要求用戶代收驗證碼，因此警方呼籲民眾勿再提供驗證碼，免得自己身分遭竊。該公司強調，驗證碼只能自己使用，不可告知任何人。 警方提醒，若收到親友透過LINE借錢，應該親自致電本人查證，以防被騙。

• Consumer Action condemns the House's vote to repeal class actions. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution (H.J. Res. 111) today to repeal the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule to restore consumers’ right to band together to hold banks and lenders accountable…

• Wisconsin company to install rice-sized microchips in employees. A Wisconsin technology company is offering its employees microchip implants that can be used to scan into the building and purchase food at work. Whether or not to get a chip is up to the employee…

24

• Let consumers sue banks. In a dispute with your bank or credit card issuer, don’t assume you can seek justice by joining other aggrieved customers in a class action lawsuit. You probably surrendered your right to join a group suit when…

• Social Security and its purported death spiral — a scam. So what do the numbers look like for Social Security?  Post columnist Allan Sloan crunched some numbers: Sloan writes that we should be concerned. Seniors have been reporting that people are calling pretending to be a…

• Beware the debit card crooks hacking is easier than ever. Our financial lives have become a series of debit card swipes.  We swipe for groceries. We swipe for gas. But the card you rely on to conduct your business has a vulnerability that thieves have…