One of the hottest gadgets this holiday season is the e-reader. Avid readers love their extensive libraries, parents are scooping them up as educational gifts, and travelers prize them for portability. The Kindle by Amazon and the Nook from Barnes & Noble are the leading e-readers currently available – both have seen great success thanks to comprehensive libraries and a price tag that won’t break the bank. However, there...
A new system to track shoppers by following consumers’ cell phones through malls and stores is under scrutiny for its potential to invade the privacy of customers. U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether this monitoring system could be at odds with federal privacy regulations. Company Path Intelligence, creators of “FootPath technology,” use antennas set up throughout a mall or...
You’d be hard pressed to find a wish list absent some type of gaming equipment or software. So families find themselves in a quandary over which gaming console or setup would suit them best. There are currently three main, at-home gaming consoles heading the market – Nintendo’s Wii, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3). And while these three have some similarities, each will provide you with a...
It’s about that time again — the holidays are fast approaching, and some of the biggest sellers this year will be coming out of the video game market. This means millions of parents will be faring their local gaming stores to find that perfect gift, a seemingly insurmountable task. One of the best decisions you can make, however, is to buy used. There are several distinct advantages to buying...
A new email scam is making the rounds, using Google’s name to catch your eye. The con looks to be fairly indiscriminate in who it’s getting sent to, as even officials in the Ohio Attorney General’s office have reported receiving the email. But, with a company like Google, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t using at least one of its services. The email itself has had reports...
A car dealership is being accused of installing GPS tracking devices in vehicles without buyer knowledge that were used to find and repossess cars — even some that weren’t behind on payments. The Florida Attorney General’s office is suing Beach Boulevard Automotive in Jacksonville, Fla., on a variety of counts of consumer deception including: Requiring buyers to purchase several types of insurance as a condition of the sale, insisting...
A woman who was accused of scamming 8,000 people who were led to believe that were eligible for federal grants, was ordered by a federal judge to pay $1.7 million to the victims. The Federal Trade Commission, in conjunction with the attorneys general of Kansas, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Illinois sued Meggie Chapman, who ran the Grant Writers scam. Chapman was responsible for running the call centers that were...
When it comes to air duct cleaning, beware the hype. It often overtakes what little science there is, one state’s attorney general warns. Sales pitches typically feature some scary picture of what your air duct could look like if it’s dirty. Then there’s an offer of a big savings. But what are you really getting? Not much, according to Ohio’s attorney general. “Duct cleaning has never been shown to...
