Current Events in June 2011

If apples are, well, the apple of your eye, you may be shocked to learn that they're also at the top of the "dirty dozen" list of fruits and vegetables contaminated with pesticide residues, followed closely by grapes and strawberries.

A U.S. Agriculture Department survey found that nearly 100 percent of the samples tested were contaminated with presticide residue – even after they were washed under cold water for 10 seconds.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) analyzes the USDA findings each year to find the both the "Dirty Dozen" and the "Clean 15" fruits and vegetables.

Notable changes this year included apples’ rank as the most contaminated produce, jumping three spots from last year to replace celery at the top of the “Dirty Dozen” list. According to USDA, pesticides showed up on 98 percent of the more than 700 apple samples tested.

Nevertheless, most experts agree the health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure, and EWG said it strongly recommends that everyone follow USDA’s recommendation to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

“Pesticides are toxic,” said Sonya Lunder, Senior Analyst at EWG. “They are designed to kill things and most are not good for you. The question is, how bad are they?”

Cilantro

Making an appearance in the guide for the first time is the herb cilantro, which had never been tested by USDA until now. The data showed 33 unapproved pesticides on 44 percent of the cilantro samples tested, which is the highest percentage of unapproved pesticides recorded on any item included in the guide since EWG started tracking the data in 1995.

Also appearing in the guide for the first time are green onions, cranberries and mushrooms. Mushrooms made the “Clean 15” list, while honeydew was the only item to drop off that list this year. Cherries dropped off the “Dirty Dozen” list, but lettuce, which has made the list in previous years, was back on.

“Though buying organic is always the best choice, we know that sometimes people do not have access to that produce or cannot afford it,” said EWG President Ken Cook. “Our guide helps consumers concerned about pesticides to make better choices among conventional produce, and lets them know which fruits and vegetables they may want to buy organic.”

Pesticides can be extremely toxic to human health and the environment. U.S. and international government agencies alike have linked pesticides to nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone system disruption and IQ deficits among children.

"I really worry that pesticides on food are unhealthy for the tender, developing brains and bodies of young children," said Dr. Harvey Karp, MD, FAAP, creator of the book/DVD The Happiest Baby on the Block. "Parents don't realize they're often feeding their little ones fruits and veggies with the highest pesticide residues. Studies show even small amounts of these chemicals add up and can impair a child's health when they're exposed during the early, critical stages of their development."

When pesticide sprayers have to bundle up in astronaut-like suits for protection, it's clear parents want to feed their families food containing as little of these toxic chemicals as possible."

Toxic substances

"Pesticides, while designed specifically to kill certain organisms, are also associated with a host of very serious health problems in people, including neurological deficits, ADHD, endocrine system disruption and cancer," said Andrew Weil, MD, Founder and Director, Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. "My advice to consumers is to whenever possible avoid exposure to pesticides, including pesticide residues on food."

Consumers who choose five servings of fruits and vegetables a day from EWG's Clean 15 list rather than from the Dirty Dozen can lower the volume of pesticides they consume by 92 percent, according to EWG’s calculations. They will also eat fewer types of pesticides. Picking five servings of fruits and vegetables from the 12 most-contaminated products would result in consuming an average of 14 different pesticides a day. Choosing five servings from the 15 least contaminated fruits and vegetables would result in consuming fewer than two pesticides per day.

EWG’s Shoppers Guide is available as a PDF download at http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/. An iPhone app will be available in the near future. For a small donation, consumers can also have a version of the guide sent to them as a bag tag that can be attached to reusable shopping bags.

The real estate market may be in a double-dip recession, but sales of timeshares are “holding steady,” according to a report prepared for the American Resort Development Association.

But the report also shows rentals have become a larger area for timeshares, as 10 percent of the timeshare occupancy rate was comprised of renters as more timeshare developers expanded their rental program offering in the last year.

As for buyers, the report says 55 percent were first-time buyers while the remainder owned one or more properties.

Started in Europe

The timeshare concept originated in Europe in the 1960s, when an enterprising developer came up with a bold idea. Instead of building a condominium and selling each unit, why not sell each unit to 52 different owners, who would each have use of it one week each year?

Each owner would pay fees for the upkeep and management of the property, freeing the developer of that financial responsibility. The owners would feel the status of owning a piece of a beautiful and well-manicured resort. In a deeded property sale, the owner woould own the unit until they sold it, like any other piece of real estate. As long as they owned it, they would be required to pay the maintenance fees.

The concept quickly caught on in the United States, when Conrad Hilton and some partners built a timeshare in Hawaii. Each unit owner paid several thousand dollars upfront for the timeshare, then paid the management company a monthly maintenance fee to cover the costs of operating and maintaining the building and all the units.

Trading system

Other hotel chains, like Marriott, quickly got into the game. To meeting buyers' objection that they didn't necessarily want to vacation in the same spot each year, a system of trading weeks with owners of timeshares in other locations was quickly established. Today, RCI and Interval International handle swaps for the estimated 155,000 timeshare units in the U.S.

But if the market for new timeshare units is, as the industry says, stable, what about the timeshare resale market? There, the evidence suggests that more than a few owners are encountering difficulty.

The Great Recession has changed circumstances for millions of people and flooded the timeshare market with units for sale by owners desperate to get out from under the expense. It's led to a rash of scams in which timeshare resellers contact owners with great news. They have a buyer for their timeshare unit. They just need an upfront fee from the owner to get things started.

“We got a call from TimeShare Solutions out of Florida,” Dennis, of Galveston, Tex., told ConsumerAffairs.com. “They had buyers ready to buy our Wyndham property. We paid an upfront fee of $598 expecting to hear in the next day or so that our timeshare had been sold. So far, we have not received on phone call back. When we call them, they are not available to talk.”

States crack down

In the last 12 months or so, various states have reached settlements with some companies in the business of reselling timeshares. These companies usually make big promises that they will sell an unwanted timeshare unit, but demand a large upfront fee.

In an eight-month period, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrels settled with two time-share real estate firms he accused of ripping off consumers. Massachusetts and Missouri were also among the states reaching timeshare settlements last year.

Last September, Illinois, Attorney General Lisa Madigan warned timeshare owners in her state that scammers have moved into the space, collecting money but making no attempt to sell anything.

Take my timeshare, please

The fact is, with the collapse of the real estate market, there is even less of a market for timeshare resales. Some owners are so desperate that there are now companies that offer to simply take the unit off the owner's hands. These companies have begun advertising on cable television, obviously believing there there is a large number of people interested in their solution.

The solution calls for the timeshare owner to sign over the unit. The owner gets no money for the unit, and in fact is required to pay closing costs, which can be as high or higher than if they were actually receiving payment for the unit.

Rather than do that, owners should check into donating the timeshare to a charity. There are some charities that will accept the donation of a timeshare. They will usually handle the paperwork and at least you'll get a tax deduction.

Why do some people get migraine headaches and some don't? Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston believe genetics has a lot to do with it.

Writing in the British journal Nature Genetics, researchers said they found variations in three genes that showed up more frequently in migraine patients. Two of them, known as PRDM16 and TRPM8, were specific to migraines.

A migraine is a severe, almost “sick” headache in which the sufferer sometimes has clouded vision, or sees an aura around objects. While the specific cause is unknown, scientists describe it as a brain disorder in which brain cells respond abnormally.

About 20 percent of the population is said to suffer from migraine headaches and most are women. In the new research, the scientists said at least one of the problem genes is exclusively found in women.

"While migraine remains incompletely understood and its underlying causes difficult to pin down, identifying these three genetic variants helps shed light on the biological roots for this common and dibilitating condition," said lead author Dr. Daniel Chasman.

Communication breakdown

Meanwhile, a study commissioned by the National Headache Foundation (NHF) and GlaxoSmithKline suggests migraine sufferers could be getting more relief from doctor visits.

The survey, conducted online in November 2010 by Harris Interactive, included 1,218 diagnosed migraine patients taking prescription medications for their migraine attacks as well as 533 physicians who treat between five and 10 migraine patients per week. The findings revealed disparities between what patients and physicians each reported typically discussing during office visits.

According to the survey, migraine sufferers see their doctor an average of six times per year, but most of the visits are to deal with another health issue, not the headaches.

“The survey results show patients and physicians are having important conversations about migraine management; however, these conversations are not always robust or the primary purpose of a patient’s visit, making discussion priorities unclear,” said Robert Dalton, executive director of the National Headache Foundation. “For example, patients may not always recall key pieces of information from these conversations or physicians may be misinterpreting what is being emphasized to the patient or the time doctors devote to a particular topic during these discussions.”

 Forty-one percent of patients ajnd 61 percent of physicians also said they wished they could have more discussions with each other about patients’ satisfaction with prescription migraine medications. Nearly half of physicians and more than one-quarter of patients, however, said that having more pressing health issues to discuss prevented them discussing prescription migraine medication options.

Procter & Gamble has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit over its Pampers Dry Max diapers, which parents said caused severe rashes on their children's skin. But the 59 parents who filed the suit will be getting a token payment of only $1,000 each, a payment P&G says is for their time and trouble, not compensation for any actual injuries or damage.

The company has always steadfastly maintained that the problems some parents experienced with the Dry Max diapers, saying the new, thinner diapers use materials that have been common since the 1980s.

The settlement, which would pay up to $2.7 million in legal fees, must still win court approval. It also calls for P&G to spend $400,000 on training programs about pediatric skin care.

P&G also said it will add a paragraph to the Pampers packaging that includes a reference to the Pampers website and a toll-free number that parents can call for more information.

P&G introduced the new diapers last year, adding the so-called Dry Max construction to two of its diaper varieties, Swaddlers and Cruisers, promoting them as thinner yet more absorbent than regular Pampers.

Parents soon began complaining of problems with the new formulation.

"After purchasing Pampers Cruisers Size 4 diapers with Dry Max, my daughter Isabel began to get a very severe diaper rash with open sores and burns," Kathryn, of Woodbury, Minn., told ConsumerAffairs.com in May 2010. "It caused so much discomfort that she screamed at changing time and began to hold her urine and bowel movements."

Lorea of Paso Robles, Calif., said that her six-month-old son recent developed "this burn-like rash that looks as though it is melting his skin off." Lorea said that she has "always loved Pampers Swaddlers and would recommend them to anyone" but now warns her friends against them.

Harsh reaction

P&G reacted harshly to the complaints, essentially calling the parents liars.

"For a number of weeks, Pampers has been a subject of growing but completely false rumors fueled by social media that its new Dry Max diaper causes rashes and other skin irritations," said Jodi Allen, P&G Vice President for Pampers. 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) investigated the complaints but didn't pinpoint the cause of the complaints.

“[T]the review has not identified any specific cause linking Dry Max diapers to diaper rash," the CPSC said last September.. The agency said that from April through August 2010, it received nearly 4,700 incident reports about diaper rash. Nearly 85 percent of these complaints came in May and then dropped off significantly.

Complaints may have fallen off but they have not gone away. ConsumerAffairs.com continues to hear from parents experiencing the same problem.

“We purchased Pampers diapers for my grand-daughter born Dec 10/10. At 2 weeks old she developed a rash. At 3 weeks old she developed blisters even though her Mom changed her constantly and creams were ineffective. A change in diaper brand to Huggies and the rash and blisters cleared right up,” said Sandy of Lakefield, Ontario, earlier this year..

P&G greeted news of the tentative settlement by again blaming consumers. "This agreement allows us another opportunity to educate our consumers on important issues regarding their babies' health," said Fama Francisco, P&G North America's general manager for baby care.

New energy efficiency standards for air conditioners, furnaces and heat pumps should save consumers billions of dollars in reduced energy costs, according to a coalition of consumer, manufacturing, and environmental groups.

The new energy efficiency standards just released by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) establish the first-ever regional standards for central air conditioners and furnaces, as well as strengthened national standards for heat pumps.

“Climates as different as those of Minneapolis and Miami need different furnace and AC standards,” said Andrew deLaski, Executive Director of the Appliance Standards Awareness

Project (ASAP). “Until now, we’ve had one-size-fits-all national standards. These new, regional standards are a major breakthrough that will benefit consumers and the environment.”

Once the latest updated standards take effect, a typical new air conditioner in the South will use about 40% less energy, and a typical new furnace in the North will use about 20% less than before national standards were established in the late 1980s.

According to DOE’s analysis, the improvements to the air conditioner and heat pump standards announced today will save 156 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over 30 years, or about enough to meet the total electricity needs of all the households in Indiana for three years, while delivering net savings of more than $4.2 billion to U.S. consumers. The new furnace standards will save 31 billion therms of natural gas, or about enough natural gas over 32 years to heat all the homes in New York State for more than 11 years and save consumers $14.5 billion.

Major step

“The agreement on which the new DOE rule is based is another great example of industry and advocacy groups collaborating to save energy and improve the environment,” said Stephen Yurek, President and CEO of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), one of the organizations that negotiated the agreement. “It represents a major step forward in the nation's drive to increase energy efficiency. It will save energy and will provide industry with greater certainty in the marketplace, which enables more investment, enhances global competitiveness, and preserves jobs,” he said.

The energy savings from the new DOE standards also will deliver benefits for the electric system, the environment, and public health. Improved air conditioner efficiency will reduce hot summer-day electric demand by about 4,000 megawatts, or roughly the output of 13 large, gas-fired power plants. Global warming carbon dioxide emissions will be cut by up to 143 million metric tons over 30 years, an amount about equal to the annual emissions of 25 million passenger vehicles. Power plant emission of mercury and smog-forming nitrogen oxides will also be cut.

"These standards are a triple win: a win for consumers, a win for public health, and a win for the environment," said David Goldstein, Energy Program Co-Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "Under the new standards, air conditioners will still keep homes cool on hot summer days but will use less electricity, particularly during high demand days. This will lower electricity bills and the potential for brownouts and blackouts and will also reduce the amount of deadly air pollution that causes 'ozone alert' or 'red alert' days that can lead to serious health problems and even premature death. Furnaces and heat pumps that meet the new standards will heat homes using less energy, while lowering energy prices for all consumers due to decreased demand."

These standards will also protect low-income households, most of whom are renters dependent on their landlords to provide the heating system. “These new regional furnace standards will ensure that landlords install efficient systems, which will make tenants’ heating bills much more affordable,” said Charlie Harak, Managing Attorney of the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) in Boston.

Stop smoking? Sure, but what if you start packing on the pounds? That's been the curse of smoking cessation for many, but now a new study holds out hope of being able to stop smoking without gaining weight.

Researchers funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) say they've found a brain mechanism – called a nicotonic receptor -- that's involved in nicotine's ability to reduce food intake in rodents.

In the study, to be published in the June 10 issue of Science, researchers found that a nicotine-like drug, cytisine, specifically activated nicotinic receptors in the hypothalamus — a brain center that controls feeding.

This resulted in the activation of a circuit that reduced food intake and body fat in a mouse model. This effect was very specific, since a drug that prevented cytisine from binding to its hypothalamic receptors blocked the reduction in food intake.

Prior research shows that the average weight gain after smoking is less than 10 pounds, but even so, fear of weight gain can discourage some people who would like to quit even though smoking is much worse than being a few pounds overweight.

Through the use of tobacco, nicotine is one of the most heavily used addictive drugs and the leading preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking results in more than 440,000 preventable deaths each year — about 1 in 5 U.S. deaths overall. Despite the well-documented health costs of smoking, many smokers report great difficulty quitting.

Mouse model

"These mouse models allow us to explore the mechanisms through which nicotine acts in the brain to reduce food intake," said Dr. Marina Picciotto, of Yale University, New Haven, Conn. and senior author for the article. "We found that nicotine reduced eating and body fat through receptors implicated in nicotine aversion and withdrawal rather than reward and reinforcement."

"These results indicate that medications that specifically target this pathway could alleviate nicotine withdrawal as well as reduce the risk of overeating during smoking cessation," said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "Although more research is warranted, such a highly selective compound might be more effective than drugs that act on more than one type of nicotinic receptor."

For information on tips to maintain a healthy weight while quitting smoking go to Forever Free: Smoking and Weight, a publication of the National Cancer Institute.

If you spend most of your day sitting at a desk, getting up and moving around from time to time not only relieves the tedium, it could extend your life.  That's the conclusion of a report from the American College of Cardiologists that declares too much sitting is as harmful as smoking cigarettes.

The research shows that prolonged periods of sitting increases the risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and early death.

Cardiologists say your body doesn't burn as many calories when you are seated. Your body goes into storage mode and stops working at peak efficiency. Standing up, even if you aren't moving about, helps.  Standing desks, like the one shown at right, at increasingly popular among the desk and cubicle crowd.

It's no secret that the rise in obesity has coincided with more sedentary jobs, prompting some workplaces to offer on-site health sites where workers on break can exercise.

Still others have begun offering stand-up workstations, that sit astride a slow moving treadmill. A worker standing at their desk can slowly walk several miles during an average workday.

The video news report below shows how it works.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has declared Georgia-based JCT Motor Coach, Inc. an imminent hazard to public safety and ordered the bus company to immediately cease all intrastate and interstate transportation services.

FMCSA found that the company, which provided charter bus service in the southeast, was attempting to evade a previous out-of-service order by operating under a different name, JT’s Travel & Charter. The imminent hazard order applies to all officers and future companies affiliated with both JCT Motor Coach, Inc. and JT’s Travel & Charter, Inc.

"Safety is our number one priority," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "If you are an unsafe, illegal bus company attempting to dodge federal safety standards and place passengers at risk by operating under a different name, we will find you and shut you down.”

FMCSA can declare a commercial motor carrier, including a bus company, to be an imminent hazard if it finds that the carrier's operations pose a substantial likelihood of serious injury or death.

Several accidents

There have been several high-profile bus accidents lately, most recently one near Richmond, Va., that killed four passengers. The driver of that bus, Kin Yiu Cheung, was jailed after prosecutors said he was "a serious flight risk" because of discrepancies in his address and questions about his passport.

Police said Cheung was fatigued when the Sky Express bus bound for New York City swerved off the highway and overturned with 58 people aboard.

FMCSA’s original out-of-service order issued to JCT Motor Coach, Inc. was the result of a comprehensive compliance review that found numerous significant safety violations by the company. These included intentionally falsifying vehicle maintenance records, failing to ensure its vehicles were regularly inspected, repaired and maintained, using drivers with positive drug and alcohol testing results, using medically unqualified drivers and failing to comply with federal hours-of-service requirements for drivers.

"This case is an example of FMCSA’s zero-tolerance approach to bus companies that try to mislead the public and violate the law by reincarnating under different names,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “These bus companies and their owners have no place operating on our roads.”

Surprise inspections

Last month, FMCSA and its state and local law enforcement partners conducted more than 3,000 surprise passenger carrier safety inspections over a two-week period that resulted in 442 unsafe buses or drivers being removed from the nation's roadways. The strike force issued out-of-service citations to 127 drivers and 315 vehicles during the unannounced inspections that took place from May 1 - 15, 2011.

On May 5, the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) issued a new final rule that requires anyone applying for a commercial driver's license (CDL) to first obtain a commercial driver's learner's permit, and requires all state licensing agencies to use a standardized CDL testing system. It also prohibits the use of foreign language interpreters to reduce the potential for testing fraud.

The U.S. DOT also unveiled a "Think Safety: Every Trip, Every Time" pre-trip safety checklist that helps consumers review a bus company's safety record, safety rating and U.S. DOT operating authority before buying a ticket or hiring a bus company for group travel. The checklist is available online at FMCSA's Passenger Bus Safety Web site: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/pcs/Index.aspx. FMCSA encourages consumers to report any unsafe bus company, vehicle or driver to the agency through a toll free hotline             1-888-DOT-SAFT       (            1-888-368-7238      ) or FMCSA's consumer complaint Web site: http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov/HomePage.asp.

Other steps the U.S. DOT has taken to improve passenger safety include a new rule to ban commercial drivers from texting behind the wheel, and a proposed rule to prohibit hand-held mobile phone use. Further, in a wide-ranging Motorcoach Safety Action plan, the Department has proposed rules that will require buses to have seat belts and electronic on-board recorders to replace easily falsified paper records of driver hours. Finally, the Department launched a new s

Before you make a tax-deductible gift to your favorite charity, make sure it's still a charity.  The Internal Revenue Service has announced that about 275,000 organizations have automatically lost their tax-exempt status because they did not file legally required annual reports for three consecutive years.

Consumer protection officials around the country have been warning consumers that contributions to these organizations will no longer be deductible and taxpayers could face penalties if they mistakenly claim deductions.

“Ohioans are very generous and support a wide variety of charitable organizations and causes,” said Ohio Attorney General DeWine. “It is important that Ohio charitable donors check if a non-profit has lost its tax-exempt status to know for sure if their gift will be tax deductible or not.”

The IRS said it believes the vast majority of these organizations are defunct, but it also announced special steps to help any existing organizations to apply for reinstatement of their tax-exempt status.

Congress passed the Pension Protection Act (PPA) in 2006, requiring most tax-exempt organizations to file an annual information return or notice with the IRS. For small organizations, the law imposed a filing requirement for the first time in 2007. In addition, the law automatically revokes the tax-exempt status of any organization that does not file required returns or notices for three consecutive years.

For several years, the IRS has made an extensive effort to inform organizations of the changes in the law through multiple outreach and education avenues, including mailing more than 1 million notices to organizations that had not filed.

In addition, last year the IRS published a list of at-risk groups and gave smaller organizations an additional five months to file required notices and come into compliance. About 50,000 organizations filed during this extension period.

Most are in compliance

Overall, the IRS believes the vast majority of small tax-exempt organizations are now in compliance with the 2006 law.

“During the past several years, the IRS has gone the extra mile to help make tax-exempt groups aware of their legal filing requirement and allow them additional time to file,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. “Still, we realize there may be some legitimate organizations, especially very small ones, that were unaware of their new filing requirement. We are taking additional steps for these groups to maintain their tax-exempt status without jeopardizing their operations or harming their donors.”

The list of organizations whose tax-exempt status has been revoked for failing to meet their filing requirement, available on the IRS website at www.IRS.gov, includes each organization’s name, Employer Identification Number (EIN) and last known address. It is searchable by state. It also includes the effective date of the automatic revocation and the date it was posted to the list. The IRS will update the list monthly to include additional organizations that lose their tax-exempt status.

This listing should have little, if any, impact on donors who previously made deductible contributions to auto-revoked organizations because donations made prior to the publication of an organization’s name on the list remain tax-deductible. Going forward, however, organizations that are on the auto-revocation list that do not receive reinstatement are no longer eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions, and any income they receive may be taxable.

The phony sweepstakes scam is one of the older schemes designed to separate consumers from their money.

The premise is very basic. The victim is told they have won a sweepstakes and usually are sent an immediate check for several thousand dollars as a partial payment. They are then told they need to send a similar amount back to cover taxes or fees in order for the full amount to be sent.

Of course, the check they deposit in their account in counterfeit, but it's such a good forgery the local bank branch usually doesn't catch it until days later. By then, the victim has wired cash to the scammer. There is almost no way to get it back.

Impersonation

Some consumers writing to ConsumerAffairs.com in recent years have claimed they were scammed in a Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes.

“Just wanted to say that Publishers Clearing House said I was a winner, to send my information in and of course I did, but I had to pay $501 for delivery,” Jennifer, of Philadelphia, told ConsumerAffairs.com.

But Jennifer was not dealing with Publishers Clearing House, it turns out.

“In the last couple of years, we have seen a huge increase in the number of scams that are using our Publishers Clearing House name, either alone or in combination with other well known brands, like Readers Digest and Oprah Winfrey,” Christopher Irving, Assistant V.P. For Consumer and Legal Affairs at Publishers Clearing House, told ConsumerAffairs.com.

Irving said scammers look for anything to make themselves appear legitimate. While some of the early fake sweepstakes scams used obscure, made-up names, Irving says today's scammers grab onto a name that consumers instantly recognize, and therefore trust.

Publishers Clearing House, which markets household and entertainment products, operates one of the better known sweepstakes in the U.S. Who hasn't seen the TV commercial of the Prize Patrol showing up at an unsuspecting winner's home and handing over a check?

Increasingly sophisticated scams

Irving says today's scammers go to great lengths to make it appear they are part of Publishers Clearing House. Not only do they misappropriate the company's logo, Irving says they have been known to use the names of actual employees in their communications with victims, and have even mimicked the company's voice mail tree, so that consumers who call in response to a mailing are lulled into thinking they are dealing with Publishers Clearing House.

How is the company defending itself? Irving says it's working to educate consumers and trying to help authorities with enforcement. For example, when the company receives a copy of one of the fake sweepstakes letters that lists a toll-free number, it moves immediately to get the number shut down.

Irving also says all complaints are forwarded to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for inclusion in a federal database on scams. A section on the Publishers Clearing House website warns consumers about the various scams.

Spotting a scam

How can consumers protect themselves from the fake Publishers Clearing House Scams? Irving says there is one, very simple way.

“If, at any point, someone claiming to be from the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes asks you to send in money, then you know it is a scam,” Irving said. “Our winners are never asked to pay anything.”

It should also be pointed out that you cannot win any sweepstakes unless you enter.

“Some people assume that they were automatically entered somehow, but it doesn't work that way,” Irving said.

Publishers Clearing House winners enter the contests either online, or by filling out and returning a direct mail entry form,” Irving said.

Legitimate winners

How are sweepstakes participants informed that they have won a prize? For smaller prizes, those under $10,000, the recipient gets a certified letter with specific details for claiming their prize, none of which involves paying a fee.

“If you win a big prize, one over $10,000, you'll know when the prize patrol shows up at your door,” Irving said. “That's not staged, that's exactly how we inform our big winners.”

Groupon has expanded its location-based deals platform, Groupon Now, with recent launches in the Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle and Washington D.C. markets.

"Unlike traditional Groupon deals that are purchased for future use, Groupon Now is an easy way to explore your neighborhood and save money on anything you need right now: somewhere to eat, something fun to do or a way to pamper yourself, among others," the company said in a news release.

Groupon Now deals are redeemed immediately and good for that day only. Merchants use Groupon Now to attract extra customers in the hours they need them most, managing the flow of business in real time.

“We’re excited to continue rolling out service nationwide and introduce people to this entirely new way to shop,” said Dan Roarty, VP of Groupon Now. “Groupon Now offers consumers deals on the go for everything their city has to offer, while driving business to local merchants at the time that’s best for them.”

Five cities

Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle and Washington D.C. consumers join Groupon subscribers in Chicago, New York City and San Francisco who currently have access to Groupon Now deals. Customers already using the Groupon app can download the updated version for full access to Groupon Now!.To download the free Groupon app featuring Groupon Now!, visit the iPhone App Store or the Android Marketplace.

Groupon, launched in November 2008 in Chicago, features a daily deal on stuff to do, eat, see and buy in 43 countries around the world. Groupon says it uses collective buying power to offer huge discounts and provide a win-win for business and consumers, delivering more than 1,000 daily deals globally.

A Chicago-area lawyer says Ford exaggerated and misrepresented the features in its factory-installed SYNC navigation system, which can't be upgraded to get the advertised features.

Steven Rouse, who has filed a class-action lawsuit against Ford in Cook County Court, says he started shopping for a new car in 2010 and wanted a high-end, voice-activated navigation system. He considered General Motors cars with the OnStar system and Ford cars with the SYNC system.

Rouse said he test-drove a 2010 Ford Edge SEL equipped with the SYNC system, and he said he also reviewed a Ford brochure and its website. Both stated that 2010 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models equipped with SYNC can be updated to include the “Traffic, Directions and Information” (TDI) feature, which provides audible turn-by-turn directions.

The brochure also described the SYNC system as including “sophisticated speech-recognition software.”

Rouse wanted the voice-activated system so that he and his wife would be better able to safely transport their children to weekend sporting events and other activities.

Sounds of silence

After reviewing the material, Rouse bought a 2010 Lincoln MKT for $55,354. But when he went to the Ford website to register his new vehicle, he learned that the SYNC system in his car and all other 2010 Lincoln MKTs did not include the TDI package and thus would not provide audible turn-by-turn directions.

Rouse called his dealer and Ford's customer service department. Both told him that not only did his car not have the TDI feature but it was not available for that model and could not be installed.

Rouse's suit claims that since he bought his car, the Ford website has changed the language describing the SYNC feature to read: “... the traffic directions and information feature is not available on the Lincoln MKT or on vehicles with the optional navigation system.”

Rouse sent a letter to Ford but said he did not receive a satisfactory response.

The suit accuses Ford of violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, breach of warranty, fraud, unjust enrichment It seeks to represent all consumers who purchased a similar Ford model based on Ford's representations.

Drivers of the Nissan 350Z and Titan pick-up, along with drivers of the Chevrolet Aveo mini and Cobalt, are more likely to die in auto accidents, according to research by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.

The group didn't specifically say why it thought those models were more susceptible to fatal crashes, but did note that none of the 26 vehicles that rated lowest on the survivability scale had standard electronic stability control (ESC), while almost all of the top rated models did. The safety feature will be required on all new vehicles next year.

Big change

This year's report, based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is a sharp departure from previous years. In the past, sport utility vehicles were among the most deadly in a crash, because of their tendency to roll over.

This year, IIHS said SUVs are among the safest vehicles in a crash, precisely because the roll-over issue has been addressed.

Vehicles with the best record of survivability tend to be luxury models. The Audi A6 and Mercedes Benz E Class took top honors. Also making the list were the Toyota Sienna minivan, Ford Edge, Nissan Armada and two Land Rover SUV modes.

Toyota makes good showing

Despite last year's much publicized safety probe, Toyota placed three models on the list of 26 vehicles with the best survivability rating, including the Lexus GX 470.

ECS appears to be the biggest game changer in models analyzed in this year's IIHS report. ESC automatically applies brakes and reduces acceleration when the driver over or under-steers. Twenty-five of the 26 top rated vehicles had ESC.

Citigroup is now the latest major company to disclose that its computer networks have been penetrated by hackers. It turns out the attack occurred a month ago, with the hackers apparently gaining access to some credit card data.

However, the company says other sensitive data, including customer's Social Security numbers, was not accessed.

Also last month Sony was the target of multiple attacks, including one that shut down its PlayStation network. In that attack, hackers also reportedly gained access to some users' credit card information.

Just last week Google revealed that hackers had hit its Gmail accounts, with the resulting exposure of user names and passwords. Google blamed the attack on hackers in China, though the Chinese Government denied it.

In case you're getting paranoid, fearing that hackers are focusing on U.S. targets, that doesn't appear to be the case. The BBC reports that hackers in China and Vietnam have begun launching attacks against each other. They're targeting hundreds of websites in what appears to be a territorial dispute – not cyber territory, but actual terra firma.

Why are hackers suddenly breaking into websites and computer networks all over the world? Maybe because they can. If hackers are out in front of the security teams assigned to hold them in check, maybe they just want to flaunt it. 

How can consumers protect themselves? By being very careful about responding to email. Chester Wisniewski, a senior security advisor at Sophos Software, says consumers should be especially leery of emails that look like they are from banks.

“Never accept incoming communications purporting be from financial institutions you do business with, whether by email or phone call,” Wisniewski writes in today's blog. “Call them back using only the phone numbers published on your cards or statements. When logging in to perform online transactions, always enter their website address directly in your browser. Never click links.”

Just as motorists were finally breathing a sigh of relief at the gas pump, industry analysts predict prices will soon be headed higher again.

The latest reason is the unexpected disagreement among members of OPEC this week about how much oil to produce. Saudi Arabia led the faction that wanted to produce more. The reason, advanced by the Saudis, is that prices are now too high and will end up choking the economic recovery.

If that happens, the Saudis warned, oil prices will fall hard and fast, much like they did in late 2008. Also, an unstable energy environment will motivate big consumers like the U.S. to find alternatives to OPRC oil.

Resistance to producing more

But the resistance to producing more oil was led by Iran and Venezuela – two countries it should be pointed out generally hostile to the U.S. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told reporters he thinks prices are fair the way they are.

Absent an agreement, OPEC members are likely to produce as much or as little oil as they want, meaning there could be more oil in the months ahead, if Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries that favor increasing production actually go ahead and produce more. Or, the amount could remain the same.

But the oil futures market continues to see the glass as half-empty. The fact that OPEC couldn't agree was seen as a bad sign – or good sign if you are an oil speculator long on crude oil – and oil prices soared in Wednesday's trading.

Price jump

The price of U.S. light sweet crude, which had dropped below $98 a barrel, closed over $100 a barrel. Analysts say in this new environment, it could top out at $110 to $120 a barrel, pushing the price of gas well over $4 a gallon.

Also helping to push prices higher was Wednesday's weekly report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, showing U.S. stockpiles of crude oil fell in the previous week. The supply is still plentiful, but the fact that supplies were less than expected added to the upward pressure on prices.

By the same token, supplies of gasoline went up last week. However, that had little effect on the wholesale price of gasoline.

The State of New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against travel company owner Daryl Turner alleging deceptive marketing practices. The process was familiar because the state sued Turner and his company previously for the same reason.

In February New Jersey settled a multi-million dollar lawsuit alleging a pattern of deceptive business practices carried out by Turner's numerous vacation travel membership companies.

Failed to fulfill promises

The six-count complaint filed this week charges Turner, individually and d/b/a Reservations, his wife Robyn B. Bernstein, and their Marlton-based company, Travel Deals Limited Liability Company, as well as VIP Executives, LLC, with violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and Advertising Regulations, by failing to fulfill promises of complimentary cruises and airfare used to induce attendance at sales presentations, and failing to provide the luxury vacation packages at discounted prices represented during the sales presentations.

A judge temporarily enjoined the defendants from transferring or disposing of any assets related to the matter, and specifically enjoined Turner from any involvement in the business operations of Travel Deals or from otherwise engaging in the advertisement, offering for sale, and sale of vacation packages to consumers in and outside of New Jersey.

At the same time, the New Jersey attorney general is taking Turner back to court on the state's allegation that he is in violation of the recently agreed-to settlement.

Too-good-to-be-true offers

“As we allege in our lawsuit, Turner is in clear violation of his settlement with the State,” said Attorney General Paula T. Dow. “Every indication points to Travel Deals being yet another of Turner’s companies that dangles too-good-to-be-true offers of free cruises and international vacations in front of consumers, defrauds consumers of their hard-earned money, and then leaves them with little more than heartache and frustration.”

Dow's office says it has received complaints from 15 consumers, the majority of whom paid between $2,500 and $5,194 for vacation packages, which as alleged in the State’s new lawsuit, turned out to be essentially worthless.

Dow says the alleged scheme is similar to the one that was the subject of the previous lawsuit against Turner. According to that lawsuit, filed in 2009, Turner and his various vacation travel companies took payment from consumers and then repeatedly failed to provide the contracted-for vacation packages, or refund the money.

More than 670 consumers affected

The defendants also failed to deliver various promotional items promised to consumers in return for their attendance at promotional seminars. More than 670 affected consumers were identified in that lawsuit, which named Turner and his travel companies as defendants, namely Dreamworks Vacation Club a/k/a Dreamworks Vacations a/k/a Dreamworks, Five Points Travel Company, Bentley Travel, Modern Destinations Unlimited, Blue Water, Vacation Clubs LLC d/b/a La Bonne Vie Travel, Dream Vacations International, Inc., and Away We Go Promotions, LLC.

This week's lawsuit seeks to bar Turner from the travel business and require him to repay consumers nearly $2.2 million for vacation packages and/or complimentary items never provided.

Grasshopper advertises heavily on radio for its business telephone system, offering small businesses the opportunity to appear large, with toll-free numbers and voice mail. And while it may be a good fit for many independent operators, there may be a risk in making an external communications company your only link with the outside world.

“The telephone management system has been down nationwide over 24 hours now,” Ruth, of Palos Verdes, Calif., told ConsumerAffairs.com. “I am an equine veterinarian, and my business is effectively shut down. I have no office for people to come to. I make house calls after speaking with clients when they call...IF they can call!”

Publishing a backup number for clients, or an email address, might be a good idea.

Our mistake, but your loss

Here is yet another report from a consumer who says she was wrongly charged, but appears to be getting a run around while attempting to get her money back.

“I purchased a dress from Target and during the check out I scanned my bank card and entered my pin,” said Dana, of Clarksville, Tenn. “Then the cashier asked if I would swipe it again because she hit the wrong button. I swiped the card again entered my pin once again. I asked her if I was going to be charged twice now. She insisted that it only went through once.”

But of course, Dana said she was charged twice – clearly a mistake since it was the same day, same time, and same price.

“I was told that I would have to call a 800 number, Dana said. “I called and they told me they will investigate it and call me back. Weeks passed until I finally called them, and still nothing! A few more weeks pass and I finally receive a letter in the mail stating that there is nothing that they can do about it. Basically, saying that I am a liar.”

Mistakes happen and unfortunately, it's usually the consumer who ends up paying for it.

More transparency, please

Matthew, of Livermore, Calif., said he was shocked when he received a letter from a collection agency acting on behalf of Verizon.

“Really? $26? I spend $2000+ on their wireless service and they send my closed DSL account to collections for a $26.66 trailing balance without so much as the common courtesy of a phone call or even an email,” Matthew told ConsumerAffairs.com. “How about sending me a freaking bill?”

As Matthew explains it, he closed his DSL account in February but has continued to check his Verizon account online to make sure there were no trailing charges.

“Turns out, they don't update the 'Account Summary' with those charges,” he said. “Apparently, to Verizon, 'Paid in Full! Thank You!' means "you're account is past due and we're sending you to collections for a measly amount of money!"

Matthew is understandably peeved. Businesses that allow things like this to fall through the cracks end up alienating good customers.

No sound, or too much

There certainly are a lot of problems with flat screen TVs. If they aren't catching fire, they develop lines or dots on the screen. Marlena, of New York, N.Y., reports a problem with her 47 inch Vizio that we had not heard before.

“About two weeks after using it, the volume would disappear and I am not able to use any function on the TV,” Marlena said. “In order to reset the TV to working order you have to manually unplug and replug the TV into the electrical socket. This happens about once to twice a week.”

That's not all. She said occasionally there is a loud piercing sound from the set, resembling a fire alarm. She reports Vizio has told her they can't help her because their record of her purchase of the TV is not the same date as she bought it.

The U.S. Senate dealt big banks a setback today, refusing to pass a plan to postpone new regulations that sharply reduce the fee that banks and card processors can impose each time a consumer swipes a debit card to make a purchase.

Shocked by the 54-45 vote, financial industry lobbyists said they would turn their attention to the Federal Reserve, which has the power to revamp the rule. (A supermajority of 60 votes was needed to pass the measure).

"It is within the Fed's power to mitigate the disastrous consequences that are sure to come from this policy initiative," said American Bankers Association President Frank Keating, who described himself as "deeply distressed" with the vote.

The fee caps "mark a dark day for every bank that issues debit cards and for consumers that have come to rely on them," said Keating. But not everyone agrees the vote is bad news for consumers.

"Public Citizen applauds the Senate for standing firm against bankers’ attempt to preserve their lucrative and unjustified debit card swipe fees, which have functioned as little more than a wealth transfer from the poor to the rich," said Public Citizen's financial policy advocate, Bartlett Naylor.

$16 billion

"Four banks alone account for $8 billion of the $16 billion in annual swipe fee profits. That oligopoly shows the need for the cap authored by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and approved last year as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act," Naylor noted.

"Will retailers pass on the savings, an average of 32 cents per transaction?" Naylor asked. "Retail markets are competitive and transparent enough that American consumers ought to recoup the savings in reduced prices."

Sen. John Tester (D-Montana), co-author of the bill that would have delayed the new regulations, said the Senate "missed an opportunity to stand up for consumers, small businesses and community banks in rural America."

"I fought for this measure because it puts the brakes on consolidation in the financial industry which has hurt Montana.  And it helps keep small businesses and community banks from getting wiped out by powerful Big Box retailers," said Tester who was quickly showered with nearly $60,000 in contributions from credit card companies and their allies when he introduced the measure.

What about Tester's claim that the fees will hurt small banks?

"Certainly not," said Public Citizen's Naylor. "Only banks with more than $10 billion in assets are subject to the cap."

"If debit swipe fees are capped, the bankers argue, they’ll be forced to make up the difference by increasing other fees. But bank profits aren’t a universal constant. When banks are stopped from profiting unfairly and can’t make up the difference by providing more value to customers, then they should simply profit less," Naylor said..

Arsenic is not something you normally want in the food chain, so a subsidiary of Pfizer has agreed to suspend U.S. sales of the animal drug 3-Nitro (Roxarsone), a product used by poultry producers since the 1940s.

The move follows a recent study by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of 100 broiler chickens that detected inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen, at higher levels in the livers of chickens treated with 3-Nitro compared with untreated chickens.

FDA officials said the levels of inorganic arsenic detected were very low and that continuing to eat chicken as 3-Nitro is suspended from the market does not pose a health risk.

“FDA detected increased levels of inorganic arsenic in the livers of chickens treated with 3-Nitro, raising concerns of a very low but completely avoidable exposure to a carcinogen,” said Michael R. Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods. “We are pleased to announce that the company is cooperating with us to protect the public health.”

Arsenic is in the environment as a naturally occurring substance or as a contaminant and is found in water, air, soil, and food.

Published scientific reports have indicated that organic arsenic, a less toxic form of arsenic and the form present in 3-Nitro could transform into inorganic arsenic. In response, scientists from the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition developed an analytical method capable of detecting very low levels of inorganic arsenic in edible tissue.

Using the new method, FDA scientists recently found that the levels of inorganic arsenic in the livers of chickens treated with 3-Nitro were increased relative to levels in the livers of the untreated control chickens.  

Alpharma, the Pfizer subsidiary that manufactures the drug, decided to voluntarily suspend sale of 3-Nitro and to facilitate an orderly process for suspending use of the product in the United States.

Alpharma’s plan provides for continued sales of 3-Nitro for 30 days from today. The company stated that allowing sales for this period will provide time for animal producers to transition to other treatment strategies and will help ensure that animal health and welfare needs are met.

In addition, the company is working with the FDA to examine all relevant scientific data regarding the use of 3-Nitro in animals.

In 1944, 3-Nitro became the first arsenic-containing new animal drug product approved by the FDA. It is used primarily in broiler chickens. Combined with other animal drugs, 3-Nitro has been used by some in the poultry industry to help control coccidiosis, a parasitic disease that affects the intestinal tracts of animals. It has also been used for weight gain, feed efficiency and improved pigmentation.