Consumer News & Alerts

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Consumer News & Alerts | January 29, 2012
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States Seek More Information About Zappos.com Data Breach

Zappos.com, the online shoe retailer, is in the process of contacting its 24 million customers with information about this month's security breach, in which a hacker gained access to one of the company's servers.

The attorneys general from 10 states say they would like a little more information too. The state officials have written to the Zappos.com CEO, seeking information about how the breach occurred, how affected customers were identified and notified and any corrective plans develo...

Automotive

Jeep And Chrysler Also Had Big 2011 Carmakers benefits from drop in Japanese production

Studies: Friends In Car Increase Teen Accident Risk Could be as big a distraction as cell phones

Spare Tires Face Extinction in New Cars Another casualty of cost-cutting, fuel-efficiency standards

Auto Dealers Oppose New Fuel Economy Standards Would price many Americans out of new car market, director says

Gas Prices Little Changed In Last Week Volatile oil prices finally calm down a bit

Cell Phones

Apple Continues Its Hot Streak Profits surge as iPhone overtakes Android

Social & Dating

New Gmail Users Get Google+ As Well New sign-up process requires a Google profile

Entertainment

Feds May Relax Media Cross-Ownership Rules

Here's an issue that used to be a real hot button but which no longer seems to excite much public interest: media ownership. For decades, consumer activists complained that there was too little diversity in the ownership of television, newspapers and radio.

You don't hear much of that anymore, what with the Internet and cable providing all the shouting matches anyone can tolerate.

Perhaps mirroring that thinking, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is pl...

Education

New School Lunch Standards Aim to Help Kids Slim Down, Shape Up Better diet should also help students perform better academically

Finance

Bank of America Should be Broken Up, Feds Told

Bank of America, the second-largest bank holding company in the U.S., should be broken up and reformed, Public Citizen said in a petition to the Federal Reserve and the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Public Citizen also sent a separate letter to financial regulators co-signed by 19 individuals, including economists and legal scholars, and by Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Media and Democracy, Demos, National People’s Action, Neighborhood Economic...

Credit Union Membership Soars In 2011 Credit unions gained 1.6 million members last year

Where To Put Your Money In 2012 Financial experts have a surprising suggestion

Obama Speech Serves Notice On Predatory Lenders President also announces crackdown on fraud against consumers and investors

Bank of America's Merrill Lynch Fined $1 Million in Bonus Dispute Brokerage refused to arbitrate disputes with employees

New Rule Protects Consumers Sending Money Overseas Exchange rate, fees must be disclosed in advance

Health

High Levels Of MRSA Bacteria Found In Meat Products

MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that sometimes infects hospital patients, can also be found in our food. And a new study says MRSA is a lot more common in retail pork products than previously believed.

The new study was conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa College of Public Health and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

MRSA can occur in the environment and in raw meat products, and is estimated to cause around 185,000 cases of food poisoning each...

USDA Proposes New Poultry Inspection Procedure Consumers wary but industry groups support the plan

It's Harder To Quit Smoking When You're Poor Even though cigarettes are expensive, the poor keep buying them

Fewer Amputations in Diabetes Patients, Report Finds CDC finds 65% fewer leg, foot amputations in recent years

High-Fat Diet Increases Risk of Diabetes in Pregnancy Condition can complicate pregnancy and affect infant

Little Progress on Regulating BPA, Report Finds "Sluggishness" of federal agencies means continued exposure for infants, children

Homeowners

Arrests Made In Mortgage Fraud Scheme Illinois attorney general files criminal fraud charges

Reports: Lender Settlement Is Reached, Or Could Be Near President Obama may announce deal in State Of The Union speech

Internet

WSJ: Google Execs Knew of Illegal Drug Ads

When Google agreed to pay $500 million last August to settle charges it carried ads for illegal drugs, the story that went untold was that the charges grew out of a sting operation conducted by a prison inmate operating under the watchful gaze of federal agents.

The Wall Street Journal told that tale this week, including allegations that Google co-founder Larry Page, now the company's CEO, and other top executives were aware of legal problems with the drug ads.

Mr. Page knew ab...

Study Finds Behavioral Tracking Widespread on Children's Sites FTC asked to upgrade online privacy safeguards

Google's New Privacy Policy Raises Concerns Anything you do on nearly any Google service is collected and analyzed

Military

Joint Effort Will Fight Fraud Against Military Members Database will combat financial fraud nationwide

Shopping & Recreation

Family Dollar Plans 500 New Stores This Year Customers "buying what they need, not what they want"

Macy's Sues Martha Over J.C. Penney Deal Claims it has the exclusive right to sell Martha's stuff

J.C. Penney Revamping Prices, Promising Monthly Sales Events James Cash Penney's company gets a new look, new logo, new sales strategy

Are You An Experiential Shopper? Consumers who buy experiences rather than possessions are happier, study says

Scams

Scammers Exploiting Foreclosure Review Process The real foreclosure review is free

'Immigration Center' Tricked Consumers, FTC Charges Charged $2,500 for immigration forms that are available at no charge

'Scammer Guard' Faces Fraud Lawsuit In Florida State claims company carried out 'fraudulent scheme'

Acai Berry 'News' Sites Permanently Shut Down Defendants will pay $500,000 to settle deceptive practices charges

Supermarkets

Orange Juice Prices Could Be Headed Even Higher Speculators increasingly expect Brazilian import ban

Tax Preparation

IRS Free File Now Open For Business Seventy percent of taxpayers are eligible for free tax preparation software

When Can You Expect Your Tax Refund? The IRS is sending out refunds sometimes within 10 days

Are You Required To File An Income Tax Return This Year? It may pay to file, even if you don't have to

What To Do When You And The IRS Disagree It may be time to follow the Appeals process

Fallen On Hard Times? Five Ways The Tax Law Might Help IRS will try to ease your burden, to a point

Family, Parenting & Toys

Floridians Charged With Smuggling Hazardous Toys Into U.S. Chinese toys contained lead and small parts, feds allege

Poll Suggests School Obesity Efforts Might Have Downside Some parents worry their children are developing eating disorders

Travel

New Airline Passenger Protections Now In Effect Full price, including baggage fees, must be clearly disclosed

Spirit Airlines Fined $100,000 for Mishandling Disabilities Complaints Finnair fined for deceptive price advertising

What's On Your Mind?

Kmart, Netflix, GE Light Bulbs

Proactiv, Progressive Business Publications, Just Flowers

Priceline.com, AT&T, Secret Shopper Scam

State Farm, Fake Debt Collector, Hollywood Video

Bank of America, Gateway, Experian

Safety Recalls

We want to hear from you. If you've had a problem -- or a pleasant experience -- with a company, product or service, please let us know, using our secure complaint form.

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