It turns out that some time ago, someone hacked the ride service Uber and stole approximately 57 million credit card numbers, along with authenticating information for those cards. In my opinion, most people in this area don’t have much to worry about, in that Uber isn’t a major player in …
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGO
The eternal search for a soul mate, modern technology and the light speed of the internet make for a very dangerous but tempting combination for many seeking love. This mix has not been lost on crooks, scammers, thieves, con artists and perverts. The bad actors depend upon the honesty of …
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
First, thanks and apologies to my regular readers for bearing with the repetition of the subject contained in today’s column. The information bears repeating. And repeating. And maybe repeating.
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
Next to your home, cars are often the largest purchase a consumer makes (hopefully not THE largest). Because that’s the case, I want to spend some time on this subject. I average at least five calls a week from local consumers with complaints relating to cars and trucks.
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
Two incidents of credit card skimming were recently reported in North Idaho. The skimming machines were placed on gas pumps at local food stores. Luckily, a couple of sharp consumers caught the scam. They just happened to check their balances online and caught two big unauthorized charges, right after using …
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
If you’ve ever had a chimney flu fire you probably have your chimney inspected once a year BEFORE fireplace season. Flu fires are one of the most terrifying fire events a homeowner can experience. Chimney fires account for more than 26,000 fires per year in the U.S. Be sure to …
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
During the past few months it seems that many — if not most — of the scams and cons we’ve covered, specifically target those of us who are over the age of 50. It seems that the elderly are being disproportionately targeted. This is not necessarily true.
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AGO
It’s a sad fact that the crooks and scammers specifically target the elderly. I can’t tell you how many older people call me and are very upset. Lately, more and more consumers, and especially older consumers, have been calling me to report that they’ve avoided scams via internet, mail and …
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AGO
While most of us have never actually gone to court over a consumer issue, we’ve all felt like throwing down the legal gauntlet at least a few times in our lives. The problem is that often, the amount of money in question isn’t large, or the circumstance surrounding our situation …
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AGO
“OFFICIAL” MAIL: Lately, many consumers in our area have been receiving very “official” looking mail. The crooks come at us from many directions; one is the “official” call — from the IRS, the Social Security, Publishers Clearing House, etc. — another is through the mail, sometimes they even use FedEx, …
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AGO
THREE LITTLE WORDS: We all know that in real estate the three most important words are “location, location, location.” Guess what the three most important words are in consumerism — “contract, contract, contract.” As an example, this week, more than half of the calls I got would have been unnecessary …
COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AGO
