CallFire to pay $75,000 to settle FTC robocall charges: Plain Dealing
Skyy Consulting Inc., which does business as CallFire, had a "don't ask, don't know" policy about asking clients about the prerecorded calls they wanted to blast to consumers, according to the FTC's suit against the company.
Land scam ringleader sentenced to 6 years: Plain Dealing
Telemarketers contacted owners of vacant land with assurances the land was worth more than they realized and a buyer was willing to pay top dollar. Victims were lured to pay up to $16,000 to help the nonexistent sale go through.
Free Android offer has a hidden catch: Plain Dealing
Fill out a survey and get a free Android tablet? It's not quite that simple. The BBB warns this mailed offer is used to lure consumers into sales presentations for travel clubs or travel vouchers -- and even then, some consumers say, they can't get the tablet.
Return without receipt locks up prepaid card: Plain Dealing
Don't send one of these unless you tuck in the receipt.Associated Press Q. I returned a $250 designer sweatshirt with all the tags attached. It was a gift, and I didn't have the receipt, so I asked the store...
Ohio attorney general sues Parma contractor J & M Roofing
The attorney general's office said it received three complaints against the company since August 2012. Two consumers complained they paid J & M about $4,000 for work that was never completed.
Ohio Supreme Court agrees to hear payday loan appeal
The Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of a payday lending case that caps interest rates on payday-style loans at 8 percent for lenders who aren't licensed under the state's Short Term Lending Act. In other words, all payday lenders.
Scam alert - Watch for bogus e-ticket confirmations: Plain Dealing
Once in your computer, these seemingly neutral bits of code activate. They reach across the internet to draw additional malicious code to them, literally building themselves into bigger, nastier malware.
Auto Marketing Systems' 'guaranteed' refund stalls: Plain Dealing
Auto Marketing Systems is, for lack of a better word, an ad sniper who hunts customers by monitoring online classifieds at better-known, higher-traffic websites nationwide. (Plain Dealer classifieds run online at cleveland.com.). Auto Marketing solicits car sellers to buy a pricey 90-day placement for online ads and soothes the sting of the cost with the offer of a "money back guarantee."
Database that tracks payday loans tucked into Ohio's budget
The entity pushing hardest for creation of a statewide database to track payday loans: Veritec Solutions, a Florida company that operates payday loan-tracking databases. The costs would be passed on to borrowers.
Stand up for consumers: Easy ways to tell Congress to confirm Cordray for CFPB
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - the federal agency's whose job is to protect consumers from financial fraud -- can't do its job without a director. And it can't get a director without your help. If you haven't weighed in, do. If you don't know how, Consumers Union created a template to help you get started.
Directory scams trick consumers into costly listings: Plain Dealing
Gardner said he knew there were dozens of companies that use the “Yellow Pages” name, which is no longer trademarked. He was sure he would have verified he was dealing with the AT&T Yellow Pages, where the church preferred to advertise, before he agreed to a listing.