Book Notes

Each year hundreds, if not thousands, of books are published containing advice and in-depth examinations of homebuyer issues. Consumer Action highlights the best of these resources the Book Notes section. The Editor welcomes your feedback and suggestions. Click here to e-mail the editor.

Scammed

Scammed Cover ArtOnce upon a time store prices were simple and fair, businesses stood behind their products with guarantees free of fine print and loopholes, and companies genuinely seemed to care about their valued customers—but those days are long gone. In his new exposé, consumer advocate Christopher Elliot details the broken relationship… More About: Scammed

The Filter Bubble

The Filter Bubble Cover ArtEli Pariser sees personalization as the most significant shift to take place on the Web in recent years. In this investigation of the new "hidden" Web, Pariser uncovers how this growing trend threatens to control how we as a society consume and share information. Though the phenomenon has gone largely… More About: The Filter Bubble

Join the Club

Join the Club Cover ArtYou have the power to change the world. In Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg identifies a brewing social revolution that is changing the way people live, based on harnessing the positive force of peer pressure. Her stories of peer power in action show how it has reduced teen smoking in… More About: Join the Club

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Recovering from Identity Theft

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Recovering from Identity Theft Cover ArtIdentity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States and in many cases the victim has no knowledge of the theft until the situation is dire. Even then, most people have no idea what to do to get their lives back or how to regain their… More About: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Recovering from Identity Theft

Shoptimism

Shoptimism Cover ArtShoptimism is a guided tour through the parallel worlds of selling and buying. Part I, “Them Versus You,” explores “the Sell Side,” where marketing, retailing, advertising, and consumer-research forces take aim on the American buyer. Part II, “You Versus You,” looks at buyers and examines what people are looking at… More About: Shoptimism

Stopping Identity Theft

Stopping Identity Theft Cover ArtThis new book—available March 6, 2009—outlines 10 steps you can take to protect yourself or your family from ID theft and medical identity theft, the fastest growing crime in America. By reading this book, you will learn what to do now to safeguard your bank accounts, online presence, credit record… More About: Stopping Identity Theft

You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man

You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man Cover ArtSince the Bernard Madoff "Ponzi scheme" scandal broke, shocking investors and the Wall Street community, this insider's guide to investment rip-offs, scams and con artists has been in demand. The book, published in the late '90s, is designed to educate consumers and make them aware of how scams work. It… More About: You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man

Ponzi

Ponzi Cover ArtWho was Ponzi, the man whose name is synonymous with the classic “rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul” scam where money from new investors goes to reward earlier ones? (It's the kind of scheme that Bernard Madoff recently used to rake in $50 billion from gullible folks all over the world.) In December 1919, Charles… More About: Ponzi

The Privacy Advocates

The Privacy Advocates Cover ArtToday, personal information is captured, processed, and disseminated in a bewildering variety of ways, and through increasingly sophisticated, miniaturized, and distributed technologies: identity cards, biometrics, video surveillance, the use of cookies and spyware by Web sites, data mining and profiling, and many others. In The Privacy Advocates, Colin Bennett analyzes… More About: The Privacy Advocates

Privacy Wars

Privacy Wars Cover ArtExploring the conflict between civil liberties and national security, this book sounds the alarm about the current state of surveillance in the United States. Addressing the ease with which the federal government can monitor the telephone calls, e-mail, credit card purchases, money transfers, and even medical prescriptions of ordinary citizens,… More About: Privacy Wars

Understanding Privacy

Understanding Privacy Cover ArtPrivacy is one of the most important concepts of our time, yet it is also one of the most elusive. As rapidly changing technology makes information increasingly available, scholars, activists, and policymakers have struggled to define privacy, with many conceding that the task is virtually impossible. Daniel J. Solove offers… More About: Understanding Privacy

Buyology

Buyology Cover ArtHow much do we know about why we buy? What truly influences our decisions in today’s message-cluttered world? An eye-grabbing advertisement, a catchy slogan, an infectious jingle? Or do our buying decisions take place below the surface, so deep within our subconscious minds, we’re barely aware of them? In Buyology,… More About: Buyology

Stop Debt Collectors

Stop Debt Collectors Cover ArtRecord numbers of people are falling behind on their financial obligations and their debts are being sent to collections. If you're one of them, you know that being contacted by debt collectors can be stressful, especially if they are harassing you, threatening you, and/or using abusive language. The federal Fair… More About: Stop Debt Collectors

Zero Day Threat

Zero Day Threat Cover ArtZero Day Threat: The Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cyber Crooks Steal Your Money and Identity is a white-collar true-crime story—an investigative expose on bank and lending policies that actually facilitate ID theft and fraud. The authors, USA Today reporters, reveal the ways that established corporations… More About: Zero Day Threat

The Truth About Avoiding Scams

The Truth About Avoiding Scams Cover ArtScams have always been with us, and they always will be - except now, technology makes scammers' jobs even easier, enabling them to reach out from anywhere around the world, and take advantage of more people than ever before. No matter how smart you think you are, you can easily… More About: The Truth About Avoiding Scams

Your Credit Score

Your Credit Score Cover ArtLiz Pulliam Weston is a personal finance columnist whose twice-weekly columns for MSN Money reach more than six million people each month. In her new book she provides a complete action plan for improving your credit score. Credit scores—numbers that sum up your credit history based on information in your… More About: Your Credit Score

Greetings in Jesus Name

Greetings in Jesus Name Cover ArtWatch out, spammers! Michael Berry's revenges against the purveyors of e-mail pollution are funny, savage and inventive. "With warm hearts I offer my friendship, and my greetings, and I hope this letter meets you in good time. It will be surprising to you to receive this proposal from me since… More About: Greetings in Jesus Name

Digital Destiny

Digital Destiny Cover ArtWith the explosive growth of the Internet and broadband communications, our society now has the potential for a truly democratic media system offering a wide variety of independent sources of news, information, and culture, with control over content in the hands of the many rather than a few giant media… More About: Digital Destiny

Spychips

Spychips Cover ArtSpychips, the eye-opening work about the downsides of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), is available in paperback. The book has already shaken the industry and prompted legislative initiatives worldwide.

RFID is a controversial technology that uses tiny microchips to track everyday objects, animals, and even people from a distance.… More About: Spychips

Stolen Lives: Identity Theft Prevention Made Simple

Stolen Lives: Identity Theft Prevention Made Simple Cover Art

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, affecting 10 million Americans every year. Stolen Lives is a privacy wakeup call, with how-to methods to protect your greatest financial asset - your identity. Prevention is not difficult, but it takes organization and discipline. Stolen Lives helps you with an… More About: Stolen Lives: Identity Theft Prevention Made Simple

Scam-Proof Your Life

Scam-Proof Your Life Cover Art

Get inside information on how to protect your money, your rights and your health with this complete and practical collection of consumer tips by Sid Kirchheimer, AARP scam specialist.

More than 100 experts reveal specific tips, techniques, and tactics that anyone can use to avoid being victimized financially, physically, or… More About: Scam-Proof Your Life

No Place to Hide

No Place to Hide Cover ArtIn In No Place to Hide, award-winning Washington Post reporter Robert O'Harrow, Jr., pulls back the curtain on an unsettling trend: the emergence of a data-driven surveillance society intent on giving us the conveniences and services we crave, like cell phones, discount cards, and electronic toll passes, while watching us… More About: No Place to Hide

Credit Scores & Credit Reports

Credit Scores & Credit Reports Cover ArtThe U.S. credit reporting system keeps detailed financial histories on more than 200 million Americans. Evan Hendricks' Credit Scores & Credit Reports is a well-informed, informative, and well-written guide to a subject of great and growing importance to consumers. Hendricks, a foremost privacy expert, examines in detail the credit scoring… More About: Credit Scores & Credit Reports

Your Evil Twin: Beyond the Identity Theft Epidemic

Your Evil Twin: Beyond the Identity Theft Epidemic Cover ArtBob Sullivan, author and identity theft expert, probes this exploding crime. ID theft has hit ordinary citizens and celebrities alike, from Oprah Winfrey to Steven Spielberg, and costs the economy $50 billion a year. "Your Evil Twin" covers the topic from every angle, from mastermind identity thieves who have pilfered… More About: Your Evil Twin: Beyond the Identity Theft Epidemic

 

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