Current Events in October 2012

U.S. Marshals -- at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -- recently seized dietary supplements and unapproved drugs from Confidence, Inc., of Port Washington, NY.

The products seized include Dr. Brain, pH Balance, Fe-Mon-9, Glucosamine Plus, and Prostate-7 -- all dietary supplements, and Full-Bloom -- a drug. The company claimed these products could be used to treat or cure specific diseases or conditions, such as senile dementia, brain atrophy, atherosclerosis, kidney dysfunction, gangrene, depression, osteoarthritis, dysuria and several types of cancer (e.g., lung, cervix and prostate).

To make a claim that a product prevents, treats, cures, or mitigates disease, companies generally must demonstrate to the FDA that the product is safe and effective for the particular claim.

No FDA interaction

Confidence, Inc.’s products did not conform to any monograph, nor did the company file or receive approval of a New Drug Application, and the products are not generally recognized as safe and effective for their recommended uses. Therefore, the products are unapproved new drugs. In addition, the products are misbranded drugs under the Act because their labeling failed to provide adequate directions for their use as drugs.

Additionally, they were not manufactured in accordance with the current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) regulations for dietary supplements.

Warning sent

The FDA has warned Confidence, Inc. that its products and manufacturing processes violate federal law.

"This firm made unfounded claims to consumers. Products with unapproved disease claims are dangerous because they may cause consumers to delay or avoid legitimate treatments," said Melinda K. Plaisier, FDA’s acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs.

No illnesses have been associated to date with Confidence, Inc.’s products. Illnesses or serious side effects related to the use of these products should be reported to the FDA at CAERS@fda.hhs.gov or by calling 240-402-2405.

Rivers Edge Tree Stands of Cumberland, WI, is recalling about 14,000 tree stands for hunters. The snap-hook assemblies can fail, causing the tree stand and the user to fall to the ground.

The company has received three reports of incidents of snap-hook assemblies failing. One included minor injuries of bumps, bruises and soreness and one included a broken toe and lacerated hand.

The recalled products are Rivers Edge Big Foot, Lite Foot and Baby Big Foot tree stands used for bow and rifle hunting. They are made of metal with a dark gray finish and have black nylon straps with white stitching.

The seats are camouflage and black and feature a yellow Rivers Edge logo on the top. The snap-hook assembly is used to attach the stand to trees or poles. Recalled models have the date “2012” on the round ID tag located on the crossbar beneath the seat and do not have an orange dot and an “X” stamped on the snap-hook.

The following models are being recalled:

Model numbers are located on a black sticker on the seat post just below the seat and on the product packaging.

The tree stands, manufactured in China, were sold at Blain’s Farm and Fleet, Gander Mountain, Mills Fleet Farm, Orscheln – Farm & Home, Rogers Sporting Goods, Scheels All Sports and other sporting goods stores nationwide from May 1, 2012, to September 1, 2012, for between $39 and $120.

Consumers should immediately stop using recalled tree stands and contact the company to receive a free replacement snap-hook assembly.

Consumers may contact Rivers Edge toll-free at (866) 527-9690 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.

Unique Baby Products USA, d/b/a ValcoBaby, of Brooklyn, NY, is recalling about 975 ValcoBaby "Joey" booster toddler seats for strollers.

The spring button mechanism securing the booster toddler seat to the baby stroller can disengage, allowing for the carried toddler to fall. The company has received two reports of a child falling from the booster toddler seat after it disengaged from the stroller. No injuries were reported.

The product is a booster toddler seat, both single and twin, designed to attach to Valco "Tri-Mode" and "Zee" strollers. Only booster seats with batch numbers 3111, 7819, 7822 and 7831 and model number TOD1058, TOD9109 and ZEE0649 are included in the recall. The batch and model numbers are printed on a label attached to the product frame. The seats have a black color fabric seat on white metal base frame.

The booster toddler seat, manufactured in China, was sold in various juvenile product stores, Websites and the firm's Website from June 2011 through June 2012 for between $80 and $100.

Consumers should stop using these toddler booster seats immediately and contact ValcoBaby to arrange for a free replacement attachment mechanism.

For additional information, consumers may contact ValcoBaby at (800) 610-7850 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or email recall@valcobaby.com

One of the hazards of aging is falling down. And falls can be dangerous because they can break bones, especially the bones of older people.

If you or a loved one has had a fall recently and broken a bone, it's not something to be ignored. It could signal the onset of osteoporosis.

"A wrist fracture is a warning sign," says Prof. John A. Kanis, president of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). "We urge all adults aged 50 and over who have suffered a wrist or other fragility fracture, to get tested for osteoporosis."

Osteoporosis is a chronic 'silent' disease that causes bones to weaken and become more fragile and breakable. At age 50, up to one in two women and one in five men will go on to suffer a fragility fracture in their lifetimes. Kanis says these fractures can result in pain, disability, loss of quality of life and independence, or even early death.

Older women most at risk

Osteoporosis causes the bones to thin, which makes the more vulnerable to breaks. Risk factors are aging and being female; women are more likely to suffer from osteoporosis than men. Low body weight is also a risk factor.

Unfortunately, there are no symptoms for osteoporosis. You don't know you suffer from it until you fracture a bone. Prevention and treatment include calcium and vitamin D and regular exercise. In some cases your doctor may prescribe medications.

First fracture doubles the risk of more

According to IOF, a first fracture doubles the risk for future fractures.

One in four women who suffer a vertebral (spinal) fracture will experience another fracture within one year.

Half of all hip fractures come from 16 percent of the postmenopausal women with a history of fracture, including wrist fractures.

However, despite the fact that a first fracture is a clear warning sign, only two in ten patients with initial bone breaks get a follow-up test for osteoporosis or falls risk.

"We urge individuals over 50 who have suffered any kind of fragility fracture to insist on testing and, if indicated, treatment for osteoporosis," said Kanis. "This is the best way to reduce the risk of a cascade of future fractures."

Summit Treestands of of Decatur, AL is recalling about 2,900 Crush Series: Perch, Stoop and Ledge trees stands for hunters

The tree stand's hanging strap assembly could dislodge from the tree stand or fail to restrain or hold properly on the tree, posing a fall hazard. No incidents or injuries have been reported

The recalled hunters' tree stands have the following names and item numbers: Crush Series Perch, number 82069; Crush Series Stoop, number 82070; and Crush Series Ledge number 82071.

The tree stands include the main stand platform and seat with a green cinch strap and a tan tree stand hanging strap assembly, which consists of one nylon strap with a hook and an adjustment portion with a metal buckle and a matching nylon tab and a hook. This hanging strap assembly has the recalled item numbers printed on the safety label attached near the buckle.

The product, made in China, was sold at hunting stores and in catalogs such as Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas and others nationwide from July 2012 through August 2012 for between $70 to $100.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled tree stands and contact Summit to receive a free replacement hanging strap assembly.

Summit Treestands can be reached toll-free at (855) 375-9808, anytime.

Two California brothers who have been leading promoters of the LAP-BAND surgical procedure for weight loss in obese adults are being targeted by several federal and state criminal investigations, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Michael and Julian Omidi, who for years ran the seemingly ubiquitous 1-800-GET-THIN ad campaign, are also facing numerous lawsuits filed by patients and the survivors of patients who had bad outcomes from the procedure.

The LAP-BAND is a ring that is placed on the upper part of the stomach forming a small pouch. It is supposed to cause patients to experience a full feeling and restrict their dietary intake.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the LAP-BAND in 2001 for use in severely obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 40, and those with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 35 and who also have an existing severe condition related to their obesity, such as heart disease or diabetes, or those who are at least 100 pounds overweight. Last year, it expanded the eligibility to those with a BMI of 30 to 34. BMI is a general measure of body fat based on an individual’s weight and height.

The investigation centers around "potential violations of federal law, including conspiracy, healthcare fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, tax violations, identity theft [and] money laundering," Samanta Kelley, a special agent for the Food and Drug Administration's criminal division, said in an affidavit filed at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles, the Times reported.

Ads everywhere

The 1-800-GET-THIN advertisements blanketed Southern California roadside billboards, television, radio and the Internet for years but disappeared earlier this year after the FDA warned the company that the ads were misleading because they failed to include adequate warnings about the surgery

One worker at a clinic affiliated with 1-800-GET-THIN was recently arrested after she tried to sell the medical records of two patients who died after Lap-Band surgeries to an attorney, Kelley said in an affidavit.

An attorney representing the Omidis, John Hueston, said his clients have done nothing wrong and he did not expect criminal charges to be filed against them.

5 deaths

Five patients died after undergoing the Lap-Band procedures at clinics linked to the 1-800-GET-THIN campaigns. In their lawsuits, relatives of the dead patients have charged that the clinics failed to warn patients about the risks of the surgery and alleged that doctors made numerous errors that led to the patients' deaths.

One of the lawsuits seeks damages in the death of a 50-year-old California woman who died in July 2010, five days after Lap Band surgery. Laura Faitro of Simi Valley died after undergoing surgery at Valley Surgical Center in West Hills, Calif. 

Her husband, John, said Ms. Faitro became interested in the surgery after seeing television commercials for 1-800-GET-THIN. But a few days after the surgery, she was hospitalized with an infection and later died.

Faitro's suit charges that there were three lacerations on her liver and her abdominal cavity was filled with bloody fluid, KABC-TV reported. 

Faitro claims surgeons discharged his wife despite her complaints of severe abdominal pain, and that the pain was so intense it forced her to seek help at the Simi Valley Hospital emergency room. She died on July 26 of "multi-organ failure and infarction due to shock, secondary to bleeding and sepsis in the abdominal cavity," according to the complaint.

Last resort

The LAP-BAND is intended to be used for weight loss in adults who have not lost weight using non-surgical weight loss methods. 

Patients using the LAP-BAND must be willing to make major changes to their lifestyle and eating habits, the FDA notes.

“Obesity is a major public health concern in the United States,” said William Maisel, M.D., M.P.H., deputy director for science at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “A healthy lifestyle and weight loss are keys to improvements in health and a person’s overall quality of life.”

Use of the LAP-BAND in patients with BMIs between 30 and 40 was examined in a U.S. study. Results showed that 80 percent of patients lost at least 30 percent of their excess weight and kept it off for one year. Some patients in the study lost no weight, while others lost more than 80 percent of their extra weight.

In the same study, more than 70 percent of patients experienced an adverse event related to LAP-BAND, most often vomiting and difficulty swallowing. The events ranged from mild to severe but most were mild and resolved quickly.

Seven out of 149 patients needed other procedures after implantation: four to remove the LAP-BAND, two for port revisions, and one to reposition the LAP-BAND.

More about weight loss

As expected, Apple has introduced a smaller version of it's iPad tablet but, despite the smaller size, it still carries a premium price.

The new iPad mini will retail for $329 while the new version of the standard iPad tablet starts at $499. That compares to $199 for the Nexus 7 and the new generation of the Amazon Kindle.

Apple executives say the new, smaller tablet has an improved camera that is actually superior to the one in the iPad 2. They compared their new product with the Nexus 7, noting it has a larger screen and runs more apps designed specifically for tablets.

Looks like an Apple

In the spirit of most Apple products, the Mini is light, thin and sleekly designed. Apple compares its thickness to an actual tablet of paper and has a 7.9 inch screen, compared to the 9.7 inch full-sized iPad.

The iPad Mini was no surprise and was long expected. While a full-sized tablet generally starts at $500 Apple's competitors, notably Amazon, have found a market for tablets with seven inch screens and a $200 price point.

Jobs was a skeptic

While Apple was widely expected to enter the mini market, it was by no means a certainty. The late Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder, made no secret of his contempt for the smaller tablets, saying the public would never embrace them.

Before introducing the iPad mini Apple rolled out the latest version of its full-sized iPad, trumpeting a number of improvements. It features a newer, faster chip that improvements performance, Apple executives said.

The pressure appears to be mounting on Monster Beverage, the maker of Monster energy drinks. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it is looking into any possible link between the high-octane beverage and five deaths. The family of a Maryland teenager who died is suing the company.

The parents of 14-year old Anais Fournier, who died after reportedly consuming two Monster drinks, are suing the company for wrongful death. In a statement the company said it is sure its products had nothing to do with the teen's death.

But energy drinks, in particular those made by Monster, have been under pressure for some time. In late August New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was reported to be investigating the health effects of Monster's energy drinks.

Health concerns

Health officials have also been drawing a bead on energy drinks. In 2011 researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and Wake Forest University School of Medicine issued a study suggesting highly-caffeinated energy drinks may pose a significant threat to individual and public health.

Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), they recommended immediate consumer action, education by health providers, voluntary disclosures by manufacturers and new federal labeling requirements.

The study followed a crackdown on energy drinks containing alcohol. A number of states banned those products and, under increasing pressure, Anheuser-Busch ended sales of energy drink products containing alcohol.

Now the FDA is looking into Monster Beverage. According to incident reports filed to the agency by doctors around the country, as many as five deaths may be tied to drinking the beverages. The incident reports also mention more than 30 other adverse reaction from drinking the beverages.

Lawmaker pushed for FDA probe

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) raised the issue back in April, citing Fournier's death the previous December. In a letter to the Commissioner of the FDA, Durbin called for an investigation into energy drinks like ‘Monster Energy’, ‘Rockstar’ and ‘Red Bull’ which contain high levels of caffeine. Durbin said the drinks contain potentially dangerous ingredients yet are marketed to young people.

Fournier died of a cardiac arrhythmia. Durbin says it was due to caffeine toxicity after drinking two 24-ounce Monster energy drinks in a 24-hour period.

“Consuming large quantities of caffeine can have serious health consequences, including caffeine toxicity, stroke, anxiety, arrhythmia, and in some cases death,” Durbin wrote in the letter. “Young people are especially susceptible to suffering adverse effects because energy drinks market to youth, their bodies are not accustomed to caffeine, and energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine and stimulating additives that may interact when used in combination.”

Durbin said the FDA has the authority to regulate caffeine amounts in beverages and should exercise that authority.  

Like its competitor Groupon, LivingSocial has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that challenged the way the daily deals site interprets the expiration dates of its coupons. LivingSocial will pay $4.5 million, about half what Groupon paid to settle a similar suit earlier this year. 

Both lawsuits -- and lots of consumer and merchant misunderstandings -- revolve around the expiration date issue. In LivingSocial's case, there are actually two expiration dates -- one for the “paid value” and another for the “promotional value.”

The "paid value" is what the consumer actually paid for the deal while the "promotional value" is the discount. So if you spend $20 for a LivingSocial voucher that gets you $50 worth of food at Papa Luigi's Trattoria, $20 is the paid value while $30 is the promotional value.

The promotional value expires faster than the paid value. In the just-settled lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that the federal Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility Disclosure (CARD) Act and some state laws prohibit the vouchers from going bad for at least five years. LivingSocial disagreed that its deals fall under regulations governing gift certificates or credit cards.

Under the settlement, LivingSocial users who submit claims will be eligible for up to 100 percent of the paid value “of any LivingSocial deals that is unredeemed and unrefunded and whose promotional value has expired,” according to court documents. In other words, if your LivingSocial coupon lapsed, you might be able to get all or at least some of your money back. 

Spell it out

To prevent future misunderstandings, LivingSocial’s terms and conditions will be changed “so that the expiration dates on its vouchers and website are more clear and understandable to consumers.” That includes more explicitly spelling out a deal’s paid and promotional value and their respective expiration dates, offering a refund for an unredeemed LivingSocial voucher within seven days of purchase, and setting the expiration date of the paid value of a deal to at least five years.

Confused? So is pretty much everyone else. After all, the entire daily deal segment is sort of the latest and most modern version of the three-card monte street hustle. Maybe you get something pretty good for not much money. Or maybe not. 

Some of us who've gone to trattorias on a Groupon or LivingSocial voucher may have been told we were getting a $50 dinner but it was pretty hard to find underneath all the lettuce and cheese.

Capital One Bank dupes credit cardholders into accepting a "0% balance transfer" offer that leaves people worse off than before, a class action claims in Federal Court, Courthouse News Service reports.

In the suit, Priscilla Barton accuses Capital One of "deceptive representations and omissions surrounding its '0%' balance transfer offers."

"Numerous times every year, Cap One solicits its cardholder base to take 0% balance transfers," she alleges in the complaint. "Cap One markets the balance transfers as a 'chance to save' - a means for the cardholder to pay off higher interest loans owed to other creditors. Cap One promises that these balance transfers will carry 0% interest for six or twelve months. ... Cap One promises that it will segregate the transferred balance from other segments of the cardholder's account. The balance transfer comes at a cost: Cap One charges the cardholder a fee of 2%-3% of the total balance transferred."

But, in fact, says Barton, once a cardholder accepts Cap One's '0% interest' balance transfer offer, Cap One unilaterally, and in breach of the cardholder agreement, eliminates the usual grace period and begins charging interest on all new purchases from the date of the balance transfer forward.

Normally, under Capital One's standard credit card arrangement, customers have 25 days after the close of each billing cycle to pay their "new balance" without interest, Barton says.

"Cap One did not disclose that it would eliminate the grace period for cardholders who accepted Cap One's 0% balance transfer offers and subject them to high interest charges," she alleges. 

Other complaints

Barton is far from the only consumer to feel misused. Terry of Lincoln, Neb., recently posted to ConsumerAffairs about her experience, sayine she accepted an offer of 0% APR for 12 months for balance transfers and purchases.

"To confirm this offer, we made a call and spoke to a customer service representative. We were told over the phone by this person that if we took this offer  ... there would be 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers till April 2013. So we agreed to do a balance transfer from another credit card, and had no issues."

But then, said Terry, she noticed she was being charged interest on her purchases.

"They said our account had no such agreement. We did not qualify for 0% APR on purchases, only balance transfers. ... [T]hey wouldn't do anything about agreeing to the terms of the offer we received in the mail. They kept telling us that we never took an offer."

There may be a number of reasons the recession of 2007 was particularly nasty but the collapse of the housing market has to be a major one.

When foreclosures began to mount among homeowners who lost their jobs or had their subprime mortgages reset to double-digit rates, it sent a shockwave through the financial services industry. Trillions of dollars were tied up in mortgage-backed securities that suddenly became toxic because no one knew which securities contained defaulting mortgages.

So is it significant if the housing market, which helped get us into this mess, starts showing real signs of recovery? Perhaps, but like all politics, all real estate is local. Some areas are doing a lot better than others.

Average home worth $153,800

For the nation as a whole, U.S. home values rose 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2012 -- marking the fourth consecutive quarter of increases. The Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) also rose on an annual basis, increasing 3.2 percent year-over-year to $153,800, according to Zillow's third quarter Real Estate Market Reports.

However, the pace of the recovery is uneven across markets. In the Phoenix metro area, for example, home values rose 5.9 percent quarter-over-quarter, and increased 20.4 percent year-over-year. But in metro Atlanta, home values fell 2.2 percent quarter-over-quarter and 4.8 percent year-over-year.

Looking ahead, Zillow expects U.S. home values will increase 1.7 percent over the next year, and that 183 of the 253 markets covered by the forecast have hit a bottom. An additional 41 markets are expected to hit a bottom in the next year. But the recovery continues to be uneven.

End of home-buying season

"We're likely seeing home values fall back into the negative range in some markets due to the close of the traditional home-buying season," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. "While that doesn't mean the recovery has come off the rails -- in fact, most markets have hit bottom -- it does present a confusing environment for consumers. Looking forward, we expect to see home values bump along the bottom for some time, before increasing at a slow and steady pace."

So why haven't we heard more about housing on the campaign trail? Perhaps because it is both a good news and bad news story.

Political impact

On a state level, 17 of the 41 states covered by Zillow showed quarterly home values decreases. More than half of the nine electoral battleground states -- New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin -- were among those showing quarterly declines.

"The positive news on a national level is dominating headlines, and perhaps that is why we haven't heard either presidential candidate talk in-depth about housing," Humphries said. "However, despite the national recovery, we are seeing significant polarization among markets, and more than half of battleground states still are experiencing home value declines.”

And that could mean, Humphries says, that for many pivotal voters who will decide the upcoming election, housing is still a key issue, and one that should be addressed by the candidates.

Once upon a time Halloween was a pretty inexpensive celebration. But that's changed as the holiday has become a bigger, more popular celebration.

In fact, the seven out of 10 Americans who will celebrate Halloween this year are expecting to spend an average of nearly $80 on costumes, candy and decorating their houses, according to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF).

The survey shows the typical consumer will spend $28.65 on costumes, $23.56 on decorations and $23.27 on candy. Total consumer spending for this Halloween is expected to reach $8 billion, which is great for retailers but can put a dent in consumers' budgets.

Not a good time

This extra spending comes just before the start of the Christmas shopping season so going overboard at Halloween can easily put families in the hole, just before the start of the most expensive time of year.

Halloween wasn't always an expensive holiday. Instead of buying costumes people made their own. With a little planning and creativity, you and your little ones can win the costume contest using items you have on hand. Here are a few ideas.

Turn a cardboard box into a life-size laptop, TV, or robot. With a few folds of a sheet you can become a shepherd, Roman royalty, or the ever-familiar ghost. Need more costume ideas? The Internet has several Websites with inexpensive and last-minute ideas for everyone from the baby to the family pet. Just search "inexpensive Halloween costumes."

DIY decorations

Do-it-yourself decorations are easy to make too. Pumpkins are plentiful and fairly inexpensive this time of year. It's easy to turn your yard into a graveyard by cutting out cardboard headstones from old boxes, paint them gray, add your favorite saying, attach a stake to the back and place throughout your yard.

Change the color of your porch light to create an eerie glow. Check out lighting stores for inexpensive colored bulbs and blacklights.

Believe it or not, you can even save money on treats. Wait until the last-minute to purchase candy when many retailers will mark down the price. Additionally, kids will get enough treats, so stick to bite-size candy bars that are easier on your wallet.

“I owe what?” That's often the response from consumers who get calls from collectors telling them to pay up -- or else. Victims of such scams will be glad to know that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is putting one of these operators out of business.

A California man who worked with bogus debt collectors in India has agreed to settle FTC charges that he and his companies deceived and threatened consumers into paying debts that were not owed or that the defendants were not authorized to collect.

As part of the settlement, the defendants will turn over nearly all of their assets -- amounting to an estimated $170,000 -- which will be used for consumer refunds.

The case against Villa Park, California-based Varang K. Thaker, American Credit Crunchers, LLC, and Ebeeze, LLC, is part of the FTC’s continuing crackdown on scams that target consumers in financial distress. The settlement order bans the defendants from debt collection, and prohibits them from misrepresenting:

• that they are affiliated with the government or a non-profit group,
• any terms or conditions for buying any good or service,
• any aspects of the good or service, and
• their refund policy.

The order includes a $5.4 million judgment, which is equivalent to the full amount of injury. The monetary judgment will be partially suspended due to the defendants’ inability to pay, but if it is determined that the financial information they gave the FTC was untruthful, the remaining amount of the judgment will become due.

Payday loan collectors

The FTC’s February 2012 complaint alleged that the callers who worked with the defendants would contact consumers who previously had received or inquired about online payday loans. Often pretending to be law enforcement or other government authorities, the callers would falsely threaten to immediately arrest and jail consumers if they did not agree to make a payment on a supposedly delinquent payday loan.

The FTC alleged that information submitted by consumers who had applied online for these loans found its way into the hands of the defendants, who used it to convince consumers that they owed them money.

Saying they represented the local police department, the “Federal Department of Crime and Prevention,” or simply a “federal investigator,” the callers allegedly typically demanded more than $300, and sometimes as much as $2,000. At other times, the callers claimed to be filing a large lawsuit against the consumer, or threatened to have the consumer fired from his or her job, according to the FTC. But the consumers did not owe money to defendants -- either the payday loan debts did not exist or the defendants had no authority to collect them because they were owed to someone else, the FTC alleged.

Consumers received millions of collection calls from India, and in a two-year period the operation took in more than $5 million from victims, according to the FTC. During that time, consumers filed more than 4,000 complaints with the FTC and state attorneys general about fraudulent debt collection calls.

The FTC charged the defendants with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. According to the complaint, they:

• falsely told consumers they were delinquent on a loan, they must pay it, and the defendants had the authority to collect it.
• falsely claimed to be law enforcement authorities or attorneys.
• made false threats against consumers who refused to pay the alleged debts, including threats of arrest or imprisonment.
• harassed and threatened consumers so they often paid the alleged debts out of fear of being arrested or sued.

If you have a Target credit card, you can soon consider yourself a TD Bank customer. Target is selling its entire consumer credit card portfolio to TD Bank Group for about $5.9 billion.

"Target is very pleased to have reached this agreement with TD which is the result of extensive efforts by teams at both companies," said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Target Corporation. "This transaction achieves all of Target's strategic and financial goals for a portfolio sale."

For Canadian-based TD -- Toronto and Dominion Bank, to be more precise --  the deal not only broadens its credit card operations but gives it a bigger presence in the U.S., where it has branches primarily on the East Coast.

"Our agreement with Target will significantly expand our presence in the North American credit card business and will establish TD as a key player in this space," said Ed Clark, Group President and CEO, TD Bank Group. "We're excited to be working with Targetfs strong team and leading retail brand. This asset acquisition aligns perfectly with our strategy, fits our risk profile and is a great complement to our high-growth credit card business."

Target said the agreement does not have any impact on Target's 5% REDcard Rewards program. Target team members will continue to provide all servicing for Target Credit Card and Target Visa accounts. The portfolio sale and program agreement are designed to have minimal impact on Target's current cardholders, guests and the Target team members who support financial products and services.

Not always on target

Not everyone is thrilled with Target's cards. 

"I was asked to open a Target credit card when I was buying a new TV at Target," said Chris of Woodstock, Ga., in a posting to ConsumerAffairs. "I was told I'd get an additional 5% off on a $500 TV I got on sale; the offer made the deal even sweeter. When the in-store application went through, I only got a $200 credit limit, not enough to cover the purchase of the TV. I only got $10 off the purchase and owed the balance of the sale and ended up paying for it on another card.

"I guess I should have refused the Target card offer right then and there, but it looked like the sale was already processed, and I had already spent a lot of time researching televisions. Anyway, I was not happy with that, I have excellent credit, and $200 limit seemed a joke. I think they gave me a low limit because they did not want to give me the full discount," Chris said.

The rise in gasoline prices that began in August, just as the summer driving season was ending, appears to be coming to an end as well. Prices are falling across the U.S. and, in some places, falling fast.

The national average price of a gallon of self-serve regular today is $3.648, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Survey. That's down from $3.71 on Friday and $3.77 just seven days ago.

Some relief in California

California, meanwhile, is no longer the state with the nation's most expensive fuel, relinquishing the title to Hawaii. The average gasoline price in California today is $4.39, down 20 cents a gallon from a week ago.

California prices surged earlier this month, reportedly due to refinery and pipeline problems in the state that limited the delivery of mandated summer-grade gasoline. The early release of winter-grade gasoline apparently triggered a drop in prices.

Ohio and Indiana, which on occasion this year have had some of the most expensive fuel in the nation, now have some of the cheapest. The statewide average gasoline price is $3.358 in Ohio, down 20 cents from a week ago. In Indiana the statewide average is $3.43 a gallon -- down from $3.648 seven days ago.

“AAA expects that gas prices across the country will continue to drop leading up to Election Day and will move even lower approaching the end of the year, barring any unforeseen forces,” said Avery Ash, AAA's manager of federal relations. “Wholesale gasoline futures have dropped nearly 30 cents since the start of October, and retail prices, which typically lag wholesale price declines, are now beginning to reflect this drop. In 2011 the national average price on November 6 was $3.41 and the price on Thanksgiving was $3.32. AAA expects that the national average is likely to be between $3.40-3.50 when Americans head to the polls in just over two weeks and to be between $3.25-3.40 by Thanksgiving.”

Wall Street's influence

Prices have been headed downward in large part because of Wall Street's influence. The current earnings reporting season has yielded some disappointing results, leading to speculation that U.S. growth won't meet expectations.

As a result, oil prices have been losing ground. Even so, gasoline prices are still abnormally high for this time of year. The national average price at this time last year was $3.456 a gallon.

Ash points out that prices at the pump could jump again if hostilities, or the threat of action, occurs in the Persian Gulf.

Chicago-area temporary workers have filed suit against Walmart and two temporary staffing agencies, claiming the retailer forced temps to appear early for work, stay late to complete work, work through lunches and breaks and participate in trainings without compensation, a violation of federal law.

The suit, supported by the United Food and Commercial Works International union, names Twanda Burk at the primary plaintiff.

“I only get paid minimum wage and yet Labor Ready and Walmart still try to cheat me by not paying me for the time I actually work,” Burk said. “I’ve proven that I’m a good worker, and they just want to take advantage of that.”

Lack of information

The suit claims Labor Ready and QPS, two of the staffing agencies Walmart uses in the Chicago area, failed to provide workers assigned to Walmart stores with information related to their employment, such as employment notices and proper wage payment notices as required by Illinois law.

The suit further maintains Walmart itself failed to keep accurate records of workers’ time as required by federal and state law and has failed to provide workers with forms verifying hours worked. This made it impossible for workers to make claims that they were not paid by the temp agencies for all hours worked, the plaintiffs allege.

The violations of state and federal law are alleged to have occurred in early 2009 and continued up until the present time. In addition to seeking all unpaid wages for the workers, the suit calls for an injunction against Walmart and its temp agencies preventing them from future violations of state labor laws.

“There have been so many times I’ve been told to stay late after my shift to finish stocking the shelves, but I didn’t know they wouldn’t pay me for it,” said Anthony Wright, a temp worker at Labor Ready who has worked at a couple of the Walmart stores in the area since late last year.

More temps for the holidays

Walmart contracts with staffing agencies for the services of hundreds of temporary laborers -- many of whom earn minimum wage -- in Chicago-area stores. The company has said it would hire 50,000 temporary workers to staff its stores for the upcoming holiday season.

“The practices that Walmart and its staffing agencies are engaging in are exactly why the Illinois legislature passed the Illinois Day and Temporary Services Act,” said Chris Williams, of Workers’ Law Office PC, the workers’ attorney. “Workers need critical information to make sure they don’t get cheated on their pay, as they did here. These workers are required to be paid for the time they’ve worked.”

When Walmart received permission to expand in Chicago the union says it promised the Chicago city council to set starting wages at $8.75 per hour but has failed to do so.

You've probably never heard of it but Compete is one of those companies that, like a virtual blood-hound, follows you around the Web, collecting crumbs of data -- including search terms, passwords and credit card information -- about what you see, buy and do.

The problem, says the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is that Compete doesn't spell out how much data it's collecting and allegedly fails to honor promises to protect the personal data it scoops up.

Why would anyone go to the trouble of collecting so much data? Why, to sell it, of course, which is just what Compete and other data brokers do. They sell information about you and millions of other consumers to marketers who are hoping to, in turn, sell you something.

Under a settlement with the FTC, Compete has agreed to obtain consumers’ express consent before collecting any data from Compete software downloaded onto consumers’ computers, and to delete or anonymize the use of the consumer data it already has collected, and to provide direction to consumers for uninstalling its software.

"Consumer panel"

According to the FTC, Compete got consumers to download its tracking software in several ways, including by urging them to join a “Consumer Input Panel” that was promoted using ads that pointed consumers to Compete’s Website, www.consumerinput.com. Compete told consumers that by joining the “Panel” they could win rewards while sharing their opinions about products and services, the FTC alleged. The company also allegedly promised that consumers who installed another type of its software -- the Compete Toolbar (from compete.com) -- could have “instant access” to data about the Websites they visited.

Compete also licensed its Web-tracking software to other companies, the FTC alleged. Upromise, which licensed Compete’s Web-tracking software, settled similar FTC charges earlier this year.

Once installed, the Compete tracking component operated in the background, automatically collecting information about consumers’ online activity. It captured information consumers entered into Websites, including consumers’ usernames, passwords, and search terms, and also some sensitive information such as credit card and financial account information, security codes and expiration dates, and Social Security Numbers, according to the FTC.

Unfair, deceptive

The FTC charged that several of Compete’s business practices were unfair or deceptive and violated the law. For example, the company failed to disclose to consumers that it would collect detailed information such as information they provided in making purchases, not just “the Web pages you visit.”

In addition, the FTC alleged that Compete made false and deceptive assurances to consumers that their personal information would be removed from the data it collected. The company made statements such as:

• “All data is stripped of personally identifiable information before it is transmitted to our servers;” and

• “We take reasonable security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure or destruction of personal information.”

Despite these assurances, the FTC charged that Compete failed to remove personal data before transmitting it; failed to provide reasonable and appropriate data security; transmitted sensitive information from secure Websites in readable text; failed to design and implement reasonable safeguards to protect consumers’ data; and failed to use readily available measures to mitigate the risk to consumers’ data.

If you think about it, most of us have been using social networking sites for over ten years now.

It’s hard to pinpoint which site truly invented social networking, but according to many, Sixdeegrees.com, which started back in 1997, was the first to combine technology and socializing.

But it wasn’t until Friendster came on the scene that the entire concept of social networking caught on with the masses.

Friendster was one of the first sites that allowed users to share personal interests with online friends, and since it started in 2001 the entire world of social networking has grown to enormous heights, and has become as much a part of our everyday lives as our vehicles or home appliances.

In fact, there are so many different ways one can share photos, post music and circulate videos, that many spend hours upon hours each day shifting back and forth between Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

But what if there was a website that provided a one-stop shopping experience for all of your social networking needs? And you were able to get paid if people liked what you posted?

Meaning, you could post that video of you playing air-guitar, update your followers on your latest blog entry, and put up that annoyingly cute painting of you and your companion being blissfully in love, and make money from it. 

There’s a website called Pheed that provides just that.

Best of everything

Instead of being a social networking site that focuses on just a handful of features, it grabs the best parts of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other sites folks frequently visit.

O.D. Kobo, who is cofounder of Pheed, says that improving upon good ideas is what brought the world so many wonderful and lasting creations.

“The wheel had to come about before the car,” he said in an interview. “There are stages like how Friendster came, then MySpace, then Facebook, each one improving on and adding to the format. There was Twitter and now Pheed, the evolution of a genre.”

Of course one of the main benefits of Pheed is not having to shuffle back and forth between different sites, but the fact that users can charge other people to view their content could provide the site the proper niche it needs to stand out.

There are other sites like YouTube that have a monetization feature, but since Pheed allows you to perform a number of social networking functions at once, users can potentially make money on their songs, videos, writings and other content they post.

Users have the option of charging others a one-time fee for viewing content or they can charge a monthly subscription fee. Both monthly subscriptions and one-time views run between $1.99 and $34.99 depending on what’s being offered.

If Pheed plays its marketing cards smartly it could potentially attract the filmmaker, musician or photographer that wants to make a bit of cash from their art. Historically it’s only been the independent musician that has heavily relied on social sites to advertise and sell their works.  Somehow Pheed will have to prove to its creative portion of users that the site is artist-friendly.

Multitasking lifestyle

Kobo says that although he likes websites like Facebook and Twitter they are extremely limiting in terms of other things you could use them for, and with most people living a multitasking lifestyle these days, visiting one site for all of your social networking updates can be quite convenient.

It seems Pheed is off to a good start too, as the company had a soft launch of the website and allowed celebrities and well-known business honchos to use it and spread the word.

Kobo also wants to separate Pheed from other sites by having users post high-quality content, like short films and live music broadcasts, and hopes the monetization feature will inspire people to post inviting content as opposed to just posting spur of the moment thoughts or photos.

The biggest challenge for the Los Angeles-based social site is to not get swallowed by other sites and maintain its uniqueness. Also it will have to establish itself as a cool place to visit once the newness wears off, which is a huge obstacle for start-ups.

But Pheed has managed to carve out a niche and be noticed which is a great accomplishment in today’s crowded cyber world. If it can separate itself from other websites by making itself the place to see quality postings and where people can also make money, it could turn social networking  upside down. It'll be fun to watch.