Current Events in March 2014

Today's scary, yet valuable, lesson for wannabe home buyers and potential small-business owners alike is: Never, ever, ever buy property in an “enterprise zone.” At least not in the Boston suburb of Wayland, Massachusetts, where a few dozen families and small businesses learned they personally face sewer bills of up to $55,000 due to their homes' being located in an enterprise zone.

First question: what is an enterprise zone, anyway? Here's the complete, unedited definition given by Investopedia:

A specific geographical area that has been designated by a governmental authority (usually federal). Businesses within the enterprise zone are entitled to receive various types of financial aid. These include tax benefits, special financing and other incentives designed to encourage businesses to establish and maintain a presence within the specified zone.

And on March 18, CBS Boston first broke the story of exactly how this encouragement works in Wayland. Homeowners and business owners alike got sewer bills, due by July, for such exorbitant amounts as $23,000 or $55,000. At first they figured this must be a computer or typographical error, but discovered instead that no: it's one of the “encourage you to maintain a presence here” benefits that come being in an enterprise zone.

[A]bout three dozen homeowners and just as many businesses are facing astronomical sewer bills. It all has to do with the new development on Route 20 in Wayland known as “Town Center.” Behind the beautiful stores and modern condominiums is a $5.5 million waste water treatment facility. Since it was built on what’s known as an “enterprise zone” just those people hooked up to it must pay for it all. And these people claim the developer and the town never explained that.... Here is part of the problem. Wayland homeowners all have individual septic systems. They have no need for a new expensive sewer system. So the whole cost of this facility falls to about 75 users.

In November 2011, the Wayland town board of selectmen (basically equivalent to city council) put out a two-page press release (via .pdf) titled “Town Center – At Last!” which said:

“it is understood that an increase in commercial tax receipts will eventually result in lower residential taxes. When complete in fiscal year 2015 or 2016, commercial taxes from Town Center will generate over $500,000 in new taxes per year. This will be a welcome increase to our town’s revenues and help decrease the tax burden on residents.”

No mention of “sewer bills” which, technically, are totally distinct from “taxes,” even if both in this instance boil down to “The government says pay up or you lose your house.”

Everyone benefits

The few dozen Wayland residents and business owners stuck paying for the new water treatment plant thanks to enterprise zone incentives say that, since everyone in town allegedly benefits from having the Town Center there, everyone in town should help pay the costs associated with its presence, including the new water-treatment plant.

CBS quoted small-business owner Jonathan Buchman as saying all town residents should bear the cost of the new water treatment plant because it won't be used only by those 75 home and business owners getting five-figure sewer bills. “Their building, their police station, their fire station is on the system. The main town hall with all the offices is on the system,” Buchman said.

According to property management company KGI Properties, LLC, which lists Wayland Town Center as a “featured” property on its website, the Wayland Town Center includes “Approximately 177,000 square feet of retail and office space,” which businesses can lease in chunks ranging from 1,500 to 15,000 square feet.

The first business to open there, in 2012, was a Stop and Shop supermarket. In August 2013, the Wayland Patch ran a local-news story asking “What's still to come at Wayland Town Center?' and noted that, in addition to the Stop and Shop, it also has national-chain restaurants and retail stores including Bertucci's, Subway, Panera Bread, and Unleashed by Petco.

Incidentally, if you do a Google search for “enterprise zone definition” you'll get a different result than what the business-oriented Investopedia says; according to Google, an enterprise zone is “an impoverished area in which incentives such as tax concessions are offered to encourage business investment and provide jobs for the residents.”

Impoverished because ...

So if residents are feeling impoverished, maybe because they just learned they have to cough up $55,000 by midsummer to pay their sewer bill, a quick search for jobs in Wayland, Massachusetts shows that, as of March 20, the Panera Bread in the Town Center is looking to hire a night shift baker (working hours 10 pm through 6 am, must be 18 or older with two year's baker or bakery experience), and an unspecified number of full- or part-time bakery cafe associates (must be 16 or older and know basic food safety, working hours variable).

Also as of March 20 – early afternoon Eastern Daylight Time, to be specific, since the value might change by the time you read this – the price of one share of stock in the Panera Bread company is a bit over $190.

It is not known how much of that value is buoyed up by the value of enterprise zone tax incentives meant to benefit the impoverished.

Free wi-fi has become almost a standard feature in coffee shops, fast-food outlets and similar businesses, because a hangout whose customers can't use their smartphones or tablets is a hangout likely to lose customers after awhile.

Of course hackers have figured out ways to use this to their advantage. The latest, which CNN Money reported this week, involves using drones capable of stealing everything on your smartphone — passwords, photographs and more.

More specifically, the technology to strip the data from your smartphone already existed, just not in super-mobile hard-to-avoid drone form.

Fortunately, the hackers who created the drone (named “Snoopy”) are actually security researchers with Senseport Research Labs who intend to present Snoopy to a cybersecurity conference next month. As CNN Money explained:

Snoopy takes advantage of a feature built into all smartphones and tablets: When mobile devices try to connect to the Internet, they look for networks they've accessed in the past.

"Their phone will very noisily be shouting out the name of every network its ever connected to," Sensepost security researcher Glenn Wilkinson said. "They'll be shouting out, 'Starbucks, are you there?...McDonald's Free Wi-Fi, are you there?"

So Snoopy basically poses as Starbucks or McDonald's wifi and shouts back “Here I am,” your phone or tablet makes the connection, and Snoopy (and the hackers controlling him) can read everything you do. CNN opened new accounts with Amazon, PayPal and Yahoo, specifically to see if Snoopy could steal the usernames and passwords; yes, easily.

Fortunately, protecting yourself is almost as easy: shut off the wi-fi connections on your mobile devices when you're not using them, and set it so that it must ask before joining a mobile network

Here's the latest chapter in the never-ending battle over debit card "swipe fees" -- the fees that banks charge retailers for processing purchases: a federal appeals court in Washington has reversed a lower-court judge and reinstated a 2011 Federal Reserve rule that governs the fees.

That sounds like it would be good news for retailers and, by extension, consumers. But in fact, retailers say the Fed's rule is too weak and doesn't do enough to curb the fees, which get passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

The Dodd-Frank Law requires the Fed to ensure that the swipe fees reflect the actual cost of processing debit-card transactions. Before the Fed capped fees at 21 cents in most instances, banks had been charging 44 cents per transaction.

Retailers have said the fees are still too high and are especially harmful to businesses that sell lower-priced items, like fast food and convenience store outlets.

Banks say the lower fees have forced them to raise the costs of checking accounts and other services to make up for the losses they claim to incur in servicing debit cards.

Today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is likely to set off another round of skirmishes and dueling claims. 

As college tuition costs continue to escalate and four-year universities raise entrance requirements, more students are turning to community colleges to continue their education.

Some do so reluctantly, as though attending a community college is not something to value. But increasingly educators have begun to cite community colleges as a way for more students to get an education without running up a college loan tab the size of a small mortgage.

President Obama has been a strong booster of community colleges as a way to address many of the education issues facing the country.

"In the coming years, jobs requiring at least an associate degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience,” Obama said in a speech on education. “We will not fill those jobs – or keep those jobs on our shores – without the training offered by community colleges.”

Obama is not alone. Scholarships.com, a company that helps students find money for school, says community colleges don't deserve a second-rate reputation. It cites figures from the College Board showing tuition and fees for public two-year colleges averaged just $2,544 during the 2009-2010 academic year, a fraction of what pricer four-year schools cost.

Path to a four-year degree?

True enough, but does attending a two-year school help or hinder your efforts to complete a college education? A new study by researchers at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) found that students who start out at a community college and successfully transfer to a four-year college have graduation rates equal to those who start out at a four-year school.

The key qualifier, however, is “successfully transfer.” When the researchers looked at the total number of students who enrolled at a community college they found a lower percentage – less than those who enrolled at a four-year school – ended up getting a bachelor's degree.

Then again, many likely enrolled at a community college only to pursue a two-year associate's degree, never having any intention of transferring to a four year college. In fact, early community colleges – called “junior colleges” – emphasized vocational training and two-year degree programs.

Big draw-back

But one of the criticisms of community colleges today is the difficulty in transferring credits to a four-year institution. Some community college courses may seem exactly the same as the course taught at a four-year institution, but the four-year institution may not accept it.

As a result, many community college students are frustrated when the courses they have taken don't transfer. The CUNY researchers say this remains an issue that needs to be addressed to make community colleges more attractive to more students.

“Loss of credits is a tax on transfer students,” said David Monaghan, one of the CUNY researchers. “Policymakers should be pushing both community colleges and four-year institutions to address it.”

One solution, he says, is for community colleges to invest more in transfer counseling services. And four-year institutions should develop processes for facilitating, not hindering, credit transfer for academically qualified students.

Scope of problem

The study found that only 58% of community college transfers were able to move at least 90% of their credits to a four-year college. Nearly 14% of would-be transferees, the study found, lost 90% or more of their credits when they tried to enroll in a four-year institution. Success or failure in transferring credits, the study says, is directly related to the success in obtaining a four-year degree.

Students who have all or almost all their credits transferred are 2.5 times more likely to earn a BA than students with fewer than half their credits transferred. The researchers found that students who get between half and 89 percent of their credits accepted have a 74 percent higher chance of earning a BA.

Some states have begun to address this issue by requiring state universities to get in sync with state community colleges. New Jersey, for example, requires that all for-credit courses earned in state community colleges must count toward BA graduation after transfer to a state four-year college. If more states adopted the model, the researchers say, it would vastly improve the transition form a two-year to a four-year degree.

The impact could be huge. Citing figures from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in 2012 45% of all bachelor’s degrees were awarded to students who had transferred from a community college.

Women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant while taking a folic acid supplement should take note of a new Australian study. It found that exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun may reduce their folate levels.

The study of 45 young healthy women in Brisbane aged 18 to 47, showed high rates of sun exposure accounted up to a 20 per cent reduction in folate levels.

"This is concerning as the benefits of folic acid are well-known, with health professionals urging young women to take a folic acid supplement prior to and during pregnancy," Prof. Michael Kimlin of Queensland University said.

Folate has been found to reduce miscarriage and neural tube defects such as spina bifida in unborn babies. Health agencies recommend pregnant women or those planning a pregnancy take 500 micrograms a day, he noted.

High levels of exposure

Kimlin said the study, which was the first to investigate the effects of sun exposure on folate levels in women of childbearing age, found women who had high levels of sun exposure had folate levels below those recommended for women considering pregnancy.

"The women at risk were those who were outside during the most UV intense time of the day, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., with little sun protection," Kimlin said.

Dr. David Borradale, co-author of the study, said further research including a controlled clinical trial is needed.

"We are not telling women to stop taking folate supplements, but rather urging women to talk to their doctor about their folate levels and the importance of folate in their diet, especially those who are planning a pregnancy," Borradale said. "The results of this study reinforce the need for adequate folate levels prior to and during pregnancy."

What to do

Folic acid is a B vitamin that is very important for pregnant women and those planning a baby. Folate is found in foods such as green leafy vegetables like spinach, citrus fruits, legumes, whole grains and vegemite.

Folic acid is also added to many foods such as breads, flours and pastas. Folic acid can also be taken as a pill.

Women planning a pregnancy or those who are already pregnant should seek prenatal care that includes nutrition counseling.

The research was published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology.

Such a deal The Online Entrepreneur offered -- for just $27 you could become an affiliate marketer for websites operated by such major brands as Prada, Sony, Vuitton and Verizon.

The "Six Figure Program" was quite a success for its promoters but few consumers made even three figures off of it. The Federal Trade Commission sued the promoters in 2012 as part of a crackdown on "be your own boss" offers.

The settlement order permanently prohibits The Online Entrepreneur Inc., Ben and Dave’s Consulting Associates, Inc., and David Clabeaux from selling business and work-at-home opportunities, misrepresenting that consumers are likely to earn money and misrepresenting any material fact about a product or service.

The order imposes a judgment of more than $2.9 million, which will be suspended when Clabeaux has surrendered real estate, personal property, and bank and investment accounts. Litigation continues against the remaining defendant, Benjamin Moskel.

Nearly two decades ago Prozac Nation, chronicling the use of the drug to treat depression, became a best-seller. Can Statin Nation be far behind?

According to a research team led by Duke Medicine scientists, new guidelines for using statins to treat high cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular disease are projected to result in 12.8 million more U.S. adults taking the drugs.

These findings quantify the impact of the American Heart Association's new guidelines, which were issued in November and generated both controversy and speculation about who should be given a prescription for statins.

A 'senior' drug?

In an analysis of health data published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, a team led by researchers at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) found that most of the additional statin users under the new guidelines would be people older than age 60.

"We sought to do a principled, scientific study to try to answer how the new guidelines might affect statin use, particularly as they focused eligibility on patients with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease," said lead author Michael J. Pencina, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics at DCRI. "By our estimate, there might be an uptake in usage as a result of the guidelines, from 43.2 million people to 56 million, which is nearly half of the U.S. population between the ages of 40 and 75."

Pencina and colleagues from McGill University and Boston University used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) for their analysis, focusing on 3,773 participants between the ages of 40-75 who had provided detailed medical information, including fasting cholesterol levels from blood tests.

Soaring statin use

The new guidelines expand the criteria for statin use to include people whose 10-year risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including stroke, is elevated based on a risk-assessment score.

The DCRI-led research team determined that the new guidelines could result in 49% of U.S. adults ages 40-75 being recommended for statin therapy, an increase from 38%.

The increase is much more pronounced among adults free of cardiovascular disease who are over age 60, with 77% recommended for statin use under the new guidelines vs. 48% under the previous standards. This contrasts with a modest increase from 27% to 30% among U.S. adults between the ages of 40 and 60.

Those most affected by the new recommendations are older men who are not on statins and do not have cardiovascular disease. Under the earlier guidelines, about 30.4% of this group of men between the ages of 60-75 were recommended for statin use. With the new guidelines, 87.4% of these men would be candidates for the therapy. Similarly for healthy women in this age group, those recommended for preventive statin use are projected to rise from 21.2% to 53.6%.

Surprising results

"The biggest surprise of the research was the age-dependent split for those affected by the new guidelines," Pencina said. "We anticipated that the impact would be age-dependent, but not to the degree observed. The changes for both men and women in the older age groups where huge compared to those between the ages of 40 and 60."

Overall, of the 12.8 million additional U.S. adults recommended for statin use under the new guidelines, 10.4 million are people who would be prescribed the drugs for preventive care. Of those preventive users, 8.3 million would be people over the age of 60.

The analysis also projects that an estimated 1.6 million adults previously eligible for statins under the old guidelines would no longer be candidates under the new standards. This group included primarily younger adults with elevated cholesterol but low 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease.

Pencina said an important limitation of the study is the necessary assumption that the new guidelines would be followed to the letter; in real life, people may be recommended for statins but decline to start the therapy.

"Recommendations are just that -- recommendations," Pencina said. "These guidelines correctly call for a thorough discussion between the doctor and patient about the risks and benefits of statins. It's not like everybody who meets the guidelines should all of a sudden go on statins."

The Nissan Rogue has earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) TOP SAFETY PICK+ award for good performance in each of the Institute's five crashworthiness evaluations -- plus a basic rating for front crash prevention.

To qualify for the Institute's highest designation, vehicles must earn good ratings in the moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint evaluations, as well as a good or acceptable rating in the small overlap front test.

A new requirement for 2014 is that vehicles also must earn a basic, advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention. The Rogue's optional forward collision warning system is rated basic for meeting performance criteria established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The small overlap test

In the small overlap test, the driver's space was maintained reasonably well. Injury measures recorded on the dummy indicated low risk of any significant injuries in a crash of this severity. The dummy's head made good contact with the front airbag, which stayed in position during the crash, and the side curtain airbag deployed to protect the head from contact with side structures.

The small overlap test was added to the IIHS lineup of vehicle safety evaluations in 2012. It replicates what happens when the front corner of a vehicle strikes another vehicle or an object like a tree or a utility pole. In the test, 25% of a vehicle's front end on the driver side strikes a 5-foot-tall rigid barrier at 40 mph. A 50th percentile male Hybrid III dummy is belted in the driver seat.

The new Rogue, a small SUV redesigned for the 2014 model year, is an improvement over the previous generation, which was rated marginal in the small overlap test and acceptable in the roof strength evaluation. It offers an optional forward collision warning system, a first for the model.

The old Rogue, manufactured since 2008, is still in production and sells as the Nissan Rogue Select.

If you get a phone call from someone from the IRS demanding that you pay up, or else -- hang up!

According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) these individuals are out to cheat you.

“This is the largest scam of its kind that we have ever seen,” said J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. TIGTA, he says, has received reports of over 20,000 contacts and has become aware of thousands of victims who have collectively paid over $1 million as a result of the scam, in which individuals make unsolicited calls to taxpayers fraudulently claiming to be IRS officials.

“The increasing number of people receiving these unsolicited calls from individuals who fraudulently claim to represent the IRS is alarming,” he said. “At all times, and particularly during the tax filing season, we want to make sure that innocent taxpayers are alert to this scam so they are not harmed by these criminals,” George said, adding, “Do not become a victim.”

The sophisticated phone scam has hit taxpayers in nearly every state in the country. Callers claiming to be from the IRS tell intended victims they owe taxes and must pay using a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer. They often threaten those who refuse to pay with arrest, deportation or loss of a business or driver’s license.

The truth is the IRS usually first contacts people by mail -- not by phone -- about unpaid taxes. And the agency won’t ask for payment using a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer, and it won’t ask for a credit card number over the phone.

“If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS and uses threatening language if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the IRS calling,” George said.

How they operate

The callers who commit this fraud often:

• Use common names and fake IRS badge numbers.
• Know the last four digits of the victim’s Social Security Number.
• Make caller ID information appear as if the IRS is calling.
• Send bogus IRS e-mails to support their scam.
• Call a second time claiming to be the police or department of motor vehicles, and the caller ID again supports their claim.

What to do

If you get a call from someone claiming to be with the IRS asking for a payment, here’s what to do:

• If you owe Federal taxes, or think you might owe taxes, hang up and call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions.
• If you don’t owe taxes, call and report the incident to TIGTA at 800-366-4484.
• You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.FTC.gov. Add “IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments in your complaint.

TIGTA and the IRS encourage taxpayers to be alert for phone and e-mail scams that use the IRS name. The IRS will never request personal or financial information by e-mail, texting or any social media. You should forward scam e-mails to phishing@irs.gov. Don’t open any attachments or click on any links in those e-mails.

Taxpayers should be aware that there are other unrelated scams (such as a lottery sweepstakes winner) and solicitations (such as debt relief) that fraudulently claim to be from the IRS.

General Motors is recalling 355 model year 2014 Buick Regal, LaCrosse, Verano, and Enclave, and Chevrolet Impala, Malibu, Cruze, and Traverse, and GMC Acadia vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions.

In the affected vehicles, the transmission shift cable adjuster may disengage from the transmission shift lever. Should that happen, a driver may be unable to shift gear positions and the indicated shift position may not represent the gear position the vehicle is in. Should a disengagement occur while the vehicle is being driven, when the driver attempts to stop and park the vehicle, he may be able to shift the lever to the "PARK" position, but the vehicle transmission may not be in the "PARK" gear position. If the vehicle is not in the "PARK" position there is a risk the vehicle will roll away as the driver and other occupants exit the vehicle or anytime thereafter. A vehicle rollaway increases the risk of injury to exiting occupants and bystanders.

General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace any affected transmission shift cable adjusters, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in late March 2014.

Chevrolet owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-222-1020, Buick owners at 1-800-521-7300, and GMC owners at 1-800-462-8782. General Motors' number associated with this recall is 14048.

The world is full of untrustworthy people, both on and off the Internet, so you need to protect yourself and your finances from them. For that goal, this website (like many other consumer-journalist sources) frequently publishes warning articles on the themes “Here's a new scam you must be wary of,” “Here's another new scam you ought to watch out for,” or even “This latest phishing scam is the worst one yet.”

But it's not possible to create a single omnibus list of “every potential scam on the Internet,” anymore than it's possible to produce a single comprehensive list of “every thief and dishonest person in the world today”; even if you could, new additions would spring up all the time.

You can't protect yourself from email scams by simply maintaining a list of suspicious senders; instead, you need to learn a few general rules that apply to all emails, text messages and other communiques you get (even those allegedly sent from people you know and trust).

A few examples

To demonstrate, let's look at a random sampling of actual come-on emails, most of which our various readers received and forwarded to us.

It's worth remembering that, while some scams are illegal, not all of them are. Phishing and other forms of identity theft are definitely against the law — if the thieves are successful, you part with your money without your consent, or even knowledge.

But other scam artists operate by convincing you to voluntarily hand your money over to them. The legality there depends on what they promise in exchange for your money — if some random stranger emails you an offer to sell you an astrology reading or pray to God on your behalf (in exchange for a hefty amount of cash, of course), chances are your only recourse is to not send money in the first place.

Rule one: Where your money or personal information are concerned, remember “Don't call me; I'll call you.”

This should protect you from most phishing scams. The way phishing works is, you get an email (or some other message), allegedly from a legitimate business, or government or financial institution. The message usually says there's a problem with your account, and if you don't tend to it right away something bad will happen, so you need to either click on the link or call the phone number included in the message.

The Netflix phishing scam from earlier this month is a typical example – would-be identity thieves somewhere in India sent out spammy emails allegedly from Netflix, warning customers of problems with their accounts. Anyone foolish enough to respond and cooperate with the alleged “Netflix” employees would soon have important financial information stolen from their computers.

So remember “Don't call me; I'll call you.” If you're worried about a problem with your Netflix account (or bank account, or anything else), it's okay if you contact the company, but be wary when the company allegedly contacts you. And if you do receive such a message and want to respond anyway, do your own independent online search for the company's contact information, rather than trust any links, phone numbers, or other contact options in the email itself.

Rule two: Never give money to someone you've never met.

This might sound too obvious to mention, yet the romantic scammers who haunt various dating websites in search of new victims are successful primarily because so many people forget this rule.

Last January, for example, an elderly divorcee in California was bilked out of half a million dollars, after a would-be suitor she'd “met” on Christian Mingle (but never actually met in person) convinced her to send him the money. Remember: if you've never so much as been in the same room with a person, you do not know them well enough to lend them money.

Rule three: Flattery will get you in trouble.

Earlier this week, we reported the story of a man who lost hundreds of dollars after falling for a bizarre scam which basically boiled down to “Hey, you know those conspiracy stories you hear about a small shadowy group of super-powerful people who secretly run the world? They're real, I belong to said secret conspiracy group, and you're invited to join us.”

Granted, most companies and marketing campaigns – even legitimate, non-scammy ones – will flatter their intended customers to some extent (e.g. “Are you a busy, modern mom who loves her kids? Then use our credit card, not the other bank's!” or “Are you a fashionable, attractive, successful person? Then wear our clothes, not the other company's!”).

Scam flattery goes far beyond that; it usually says you've been specifically selected, often for a unique offer denied to the common rabble. (That conspiracy letter had “For your eyes only!” right in its letterhead.)

Or check out this excerpt from an email one of our readers received and forwarded to us this week, from someone trying to sell him an astrological reading (ellipses taken from the original):

“Last night as I was going through and sending back the reading requests that had come in throughout the day, nothing was out of the ordinary. I was calmly reviewing the information provided for each request that I had printed out beside me, doing some quick interpretations, deciphering the meanings and writing them out…

… and then yours came to the top of the pile.

It did not take me long before I had to stop and sit up straight.

[Name], to put it bluntly, you are about to enter a BIG period of change in your life - whether you're prepared for it or not does not matter, but that's where I can help you.”

How very flattering indeed — you might think you're just an ordinary everyday person, but in reality you are so important, people you never even heard of before you got this email can't concentrate on their work because they spend their nights distracted by thoughts of you and your amazing awesomeness.

Don't trust anyone who tells you this.

Rule four: People with magic powers don't need money.

Of course, excessive flattery isn't the only red flag waving within that astrologer's email. Even if you want to assume astrology is not only real, but powerful enough that total strangers thousands of miles away can use it to predict your personal future — forgive the channeling of Captain Obvious here, but anyone with such powers doesn't need your money to stay financially healthy.

Here's another email forwarded from another reader; the message is from a self-described “Master Prophet” presumably with a direct hotline to God, offering to make personalized prophecies if the recipient will only send money first:

Act now! Watch your future come alive now! God is transforming you completely. This will make you confident, full of belief and satisfied about the outcome to your situation.

1.   A prophet will call you and speak with you one-on-one.

2.   A prophetic word for your relief will be in their mouth for you.

3.   This word of prophecy will be recorded for you to hear again.

4.   I will email this important prophetic word to you.

5.   I will prophesy on an MP3 or CD all about your life.

6.   I will ask another prophet to join me, and together we will prophesy about you

Here's a prophecy about you: if you send this “Master Prophet” any of your money, you'll wind up much poorer than if you'd kept that money for yourself. Real prophets and psychics don't need your money; they can make a fortune more easily than Warren Buffett.

For example: in summer of 2013, a Minnesota man bought an old house for $10,000, planning to renovate and resell it. During the renovations, he discovered that a previous homeowner had used old magazines and other papers as insulation—including a great-condition copy of Action Comics #1 (first-ever appearance of Superman, and something of a Holy Grail among comic book collectors). That comic book eventually sold at auction for $175,000.

Why was this discovery only made accidentally, by a super-lucky house-flipper? Why didn't some fortuneteller or psychic princess or Master Prophet know to buy that house and its secret-treasure insulation?

Theory: because such people do not have psychic powers or the power of prophecy; at best, they have the power to convince gullible people to part with their money. Don't let yourself be one of them.

Nobody likes debt collectors but it's even more annoying when the debt in question is bogus. Yet, it's a common practice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says it often involves aggressive communication tactics and threats of illegal actions.

The CFPB today issued a report on the more than 30,000 consumer complaints it has received about the debt collection market. 

“Consumers should never be hounded about debts they do not owe,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “We will not tolerate companies harassing consumers or threatening illegal actions in the debt collection market. We will continue to work hard to ensure that consumers are treated with dignity and fairness.”

Debt collection is a multi-billion dollar industry. It is estimated that there are more than 4,500 debt collection firms nationwide. Banks and other original creditors may collect their own debts or hire third-party debt collectors. Original creditors and other debt owners also may sell their debts to debt buyers. Debt buyers may sell the debt, collect the debt themselves, or hire third-party debt collectors to do so.

Consumer complaints

The Bureau began accepting debt collection complaints in July 2013. These complaints quickly became the largest source of complaints each month. The Bureau received 30,300 debt collection complaints between July and December 2013. Companies have already responded to about 82 percent of the complaints the Bureau has sent to them for a response in that time frame. The top three complaints were about:

· Collectors hounding consumers about a debt they do not owe: More than one-third of the complaints the CFPB handled were about a debt collector continually attempting to collect a debt that the consumer does not believe is owed. 

· Aggressive communication tactics: Nearly a quarter of the complaints received by the Bureau were about debt collectors using inappropriate communication tactics. 

· Taking or threatening an illegal action: About 14 percent of consumers report that a company is taking or threatening an illegal action. Most of these complaints are about threats to arrest or jail consumers if they do not pay.

$1,400 each

Approximately 30 million Americans had, on average, $1,400 of debt subject to collection in 2013. The main law that governs the industry and protects consumers is the 1977 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) revised the FDCPA, making the Bureau the first agency with the power to issue substantive rules under the statute. Today’s annual report to Congress highlights the Bureau’s efforts to carry out the FDCPA.

What to do

The Bureau has issued sample letters consumers can use in dealing with debt collectors. These letters may help consumers obtain valuable information about claims being made against them or may help consumers protect themselves from inappropriate or unwanted collection activities. And the Bureau’s interactive online tool,

The sample letters and more information about debt collection are available at Ask CFPB.

Moving is stressful as well as expensive. Dealing with a less-than-professional moving company just makes it worse.

When consumers choose a moving company often they look for the lowest price. That may not always be the wisest move. Remember that the price you are given up front is an estimate. The actual cost can be – and usually is – higher.

Federal law limits the spread between the mover's estimate and the actual price to no more than 110% of the estimate. But that is for moves between states; if you are moving across town, or to another town in your state, then state laws apply and these laws vary, state to state.

For moves between states a federal agency, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the Department of Transportation (DOT), is the regulating agency. For in-state moves, your state attorney general enforces laws and regulations pertaining to moving companies.

Florida lawsuit

In Florida, Attorney General Pam Bondi has filed a lawsuit against Storage & Moving Services, Inc. d/b/a Ryder Moving and Storage and its owners in response to what Bondi says are more than 100 negative reports from consumers.

According to the lawsuit, Ryder Moving and Storage picked up customer’s belongings but never delivered them, collected money for services never provided, and refused to pay for damage to customers property.

The suit also claims that Ryder Moving and Storage marketed its moving services by leading consumers to believe the Hollywood, Florida company was affiliated with the national moving company, Ryder System, Inc. According to Bondi, there is no connection between the two companies. As a result of the deception, she says, many consumers expected one thing and got another.

“These customers entrusted their clothing, furniture and family heirlooms to this company, only to have them broken and, in many cases, lost,” Bondi said. “We will continue to shut down intrastate moving companies within the state of Florida that prey on our consumers.”

'Rogue' movers

Some legitimate moving companies are simply poorly run and under capitalized, resulting in a bad experience. Others can be out and out scams. No matter where you live and where you happen to be going, it is very easy to fall prey to a “rogue” mover. According to FMCSA there are a number of red flags, tell-tale signs that the company you are dealing with isn't quite on the up and up.

The first red flag has to do with the estimate. If the company representative provides an estimate of the cost over the phone without inspecting your household goods, it's a bad sign. Chances are the estimate will be so low it will sound too good to be true. In fact, that's exactly what it will turn out to be.

If the company requires payment up front or a large deposit before it will pick up your stuff, that's another red flag. Standard practice is to make payment once the furnishings arrive at their destination.

In this day and age every company has a website. If your moving company doesn't have one, or has one with no local address or contact information or any other useful information, that could be another red flag.

Is it a real moving company or just a couple of guys with a truck? According to FMCSA, if the movers show up in a rental truck, you should take that as another red flag.

To make a move go smoothly you need to have a level of trust with the company you are dealing with. In most cases you must vacate a property by a certain date. You may need to arrive at your new home in time to begin a new job or get the kids in school. Often there is a very narrow window of time. Once you select a company you are depending on it to come through as promised.

Tips for a smooth move

To help your move go smoothly, get referrals from trusted sources and take the time to get a written estimate from more than one mover. The estimate should be based on an on-site inspection of the things to be moved.

Make sure the mover has proper insurance and is licensed. For moves from one state to another, a U.S. DOT number is issued by FMCSA.

Don't always go for the lowest estimate. Some movers will estimate very low just to get the business. The actual cost will be higher. If one company has strong referrals and appears very professional, it may be worth paying a little more.

Finally, read “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move," a booklet from the U.S. government that your mover is required to give you if you are moving from one state to another. This booklet also has information you'll need if your goods are lost or damaged during the move.

If you have had a bad experience moving within your state, you should let your state attorney general know about it. If it was a move between states, you can file a report  here.

Pardon us for asking, but how fat are you? Do you have any idea? If you have been measuring your health, when it comes to weight, by your body mass index (BMI), you may be in for a rude surprise.

A growing body of research suggests the size of your belly is a much better indicator of whether you are carrying excess weight. A new international collaborative study led by a Mayo Clinic researcher found that men and women with large waist circumferences were more likely to die younger, and were more likely to die from illnesses like heart disease, respiratory problems, and cancer.

The study, which looked at results from 11 other studies, concluded that men with waists 43 inches or greater in circumference had a 50 percent higher mortality risk than men with waists less than 35 inches. That translates to about a three-year lower life expectancy after age 40.

Women whose waists measured 37 inches or greater had about an 80 percent higher mortality risk than women with a waist circumference of 27 inches or less. That translated to about a five-year lower life expectancy after age 40.

Where to put the tape measure

Where you measure your waist is important. As we reported back in February, you don't measure your waist where your belt goes, but rather across your belly button. Dr. Martha Gulati, director of preventive cardiology and women’s cardiovascular health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, says physicians should be measuring the belly on a more regular basis but concedes it's rarely done.

“What we're doing is measuring for central obesity,” Gulati told ConsumerAffairs. “If you carry your weight in the center of your abdomen instead of your hips, being an apple shape instead of a pear shape, that tells me you are pre-disposed to developing diabetes and heart disease.”

This latest Mayo Clinic study appears to confirm that. It found that the risk jumped in linear fashion when waist size – belly size, really – increased beyond the safe point. For example, for every two inches over the limit, the risk of death went up about seven percent in men and about nine percent in women.

BMI could be misleading

The study also found that an increased risk of early death with expanding waist size was seen at all levels of BMI, even among people who had normal BMI levels.

BMI, currently the prevailing standard of healthy weight, is calculated with a somewhat complicated equation; you multiply your weight in pounds by 703, then divide that by your height in inches, squared. Besides being overly complicated, Dr. James Cerhan, a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist and lead author of the study, says BMI may not tell the whole story.

“BMI is not a perfect measure,” Cerhan said. “It doesn’t discriminate lean mass from fat mass, and it also doesn’t say anything about where your weight is located.”

Why belly fat is bad

When the fat is located in the belly, that's bad. Cerhan says that's cause for concern because extra fat in your belly has a metabolic profile that is associated with diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

“The primary goal should be preventing both a high BMI and a large waist circumference,” Cerhan said. “For those patients who have a large waist, trimming down even a few inches — through exercise and diet — could have important health benefits.”

What to do

If you've stretched a tape measure around your belly and found the number a lot higher than your belt size, your first step should be to consult with your physician. Get some advice for a diet and exercise regimen that will help you lose the gut.

Once you are cleared for an exercise program, find one that targets fat in the mid-section. You don't need six-pack abs to achieve a healthy weight, but consuming fewer six-packs might just help you get there.

This is the time of year when many of us are stocking up on antihistamines and other allergy treatments, and a new study finds that those antihistamines may also be useful in fighting cancer.

The study by researchers and Virginia Commonwealth University demonstrated that histamine, a component of the immune system that responds to allergens and foreign pathogens and is also linked to inflammation, plays a role in protecting tumors from the immune system.

By blocking the production of histamine in animal models, the researchers were able to interrupt a process that promotes melanoma growth.

"This research is very exciting as it draws a connection between two diseases that aren't commonly linked: allergy and cancer," said VCU School of Medicine professor Daniel H. Conrad, Ph.D. "However, it's important to realize that this connection is very novel and further research is needed before we know if antihistamines can be used effectively in cancer therapies."

Histamine is produced by mast cells, which are especially numerous in the nose, mouth and blood vessels to help defend against pathogens and aid in wound healing. The researchers found that histamine induces proliferation of cells called MDSCs, which help promote tumor growth by suppressing the immune system. They also discovered that MDSCs tend to migrate toward mast cells, which help traffic the MDSCs to sites of inflammation such as the liver and tumors.

Through their experiments, the researchers showed that MDSCs can be decreased by over-the-counter antihistamines such as cetirizine (Zyrtec) and cimetidine (Tagamet).

In addition, the researchers found that patients experiencing allergic symptoms have more MDSCs circulating in their bloodstream than non-allergic patients.

"MDSCs have generated a great deal of interest in recent years because they limit the effects of the immune response against cancer," says study collaborator Harry D. Bear, M.D., Ph.D. "Now that we have shown that antihistamines can interfere with the production of MDSCs, we are hopeful that we may be able to use them to restore the immune system's ability to fight off tumors."

The study was recently published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

When Google changed its privacy policy in 2012 to expand its data-mining, there was an outcry from consumers and privacy groups who were certain that an outrage was being committed. A blizzard of class action lawsuits followed.

But judges have shown little sympathy for the claims. In the latest act of judicial rejection, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh held that a class action is not the right way to resolve the matter, even though she had previously refused Google's motion to dismiss the case.

"The court finds that individual issues regarding consent are likely to overwhelmingly predominate over common issues," Koh said in her 41-page ruling, Courthouse News Service reported.

At issue is Google's claim that it is within its rights to electronically scan emails to and from Gmail users for the purpose of displaying ads based on the emails' content.

Google contends that such activities are within the normal range of business activities. Privacy advocates say they're not.

Where it starts to get complicated is the point at which millions of individuals, each with slightly different situations and grievances, are lumped into one gigantic class action lawsuit.

Koh's ruling doesn't mean individuals could not, at least in theory, pursue a successful case against Google. It doesn't even mean that aggrieved consumers are wrong to claim their rights have been trampled. It just means that there are too many differing claims wrapped up in one enormous class action.

The other issue facing privacy advocates is the matter of damages, around which all lawsuits revolve. It's difficult for an individual to show that he has been damaged by Google displaying an ad for snow blowers when the individual has penned an email complaining about the weather.

Another down month for sales of previously-owned homes, although prices continued to rise.

Figures released by the National Association of Realtors show total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dipped 0.4% in February -- to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.60 million. That's the second straight decline and is 71.% below the same month last year and the lowest pace of sales since July 2012.

As was the case in January, winter weather is being blamed for the February drop.

“We had ongoing unusual weather disruptions across much of the country last month, with the continuing frictions of constrained inventory, restrictive mortgage lending standards and housing affordability less favorable than a year ago,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Some transactions are simply being delayed, so there should be some improvement in the months ahead. With an expected pickup in job creation, home sales should trend up modestly over the course of the year.”

Prices head upward

The median existing-home price for all housing types in February was $189,000 -- 9.1% more than in February 2013. “Price gains have translated into an additional $4 trillion of housing wealth recovery over the past three years,” Yun noted.

Distressed homes -- foreclosures and short sales -- accounted for 16% of February sales, compared with 15% in January and 25% in February 2013.

Eleven percent of February sales were foreclosures, and 5% were short sales. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 16% below market value in February, while short sales were discounted 11%.

Total housing inventory at the end of last month was up 6.4% -- to 2.00 million existing homes available for sale. That represents a 5.2-month supply at the current sales pace

Regional break-out

• Existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 11.3% to an annual rate of 550,000 in February, and are 12.7% below February 2013. The median price in the Northeast was $237,800 -- up 1.5% from a year ago.
• In the Midwest, sales were off 3.8% to a pace of 1.00 million, and are 12.3% below a year ago. The median price in was $140,900 -- is 8.6% higher than February 2013.
• The South saw sales of previously owned homes rise 1.5% to an annual level of 1.98 million. However, that's down 0.5% year-over-year. The median price of $163,400 is up 8.3% from the same time last year.
• Sales had their best showing in the West with a gain of 5.9% to a pace of 1.07 million, but remain 10.1% below a year ago. The median price was up 18.0% -- to $279,400.

Jobless claims

First time applications for state jobless benefits crept higher last week, but the advance wasn't as strong as analysts had projected.

The government reports 320,000 people filed initial claims in the week ending March 15, 5,000 more than during the week before, but far fewer that the 330,000 economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting.

The latest data show a slight downward move from the previous range of 330,00-340,000, leading some analysts to speculate that we could be on the verge of an improvement in labor market conditions.

The 4-week moving average, which is less volatile than the weekly number and seen as a better indicator of the labor market, fell by 3,500 -- to 327,000.

The full report is available on the Labor Department website.

 If you traveled by air in January, there's a good chance it took longer to get where you were going.

The Transportation Transportation’s (DOT) Air Travel Consumer Report says the nation’s largest airlines posted an on-time arrival rate of 67.7% in January -- down 13.3% from the 81.0% posted a year earlier and down 1.2% from December's on-time rate of 68.9%.

In addition, carrier reported 18 tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights -- 16 of them involving Southwest Airlines flights that arrived at Chicago Midway Airport on Jan. 2. Due to a snowstorm, those flights were delayed in receiving an open gate. There were also three tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights.

The report, which can be found on the DOT website, also includes data on cancellations, chronically delayed flights, and the causes of flight delays. In addition, there is information on mishandled baggage, reports of incidents involving the loss, death, or injury of pets traveling by air.

Minga Fair Trade Imports of Lake Geneva, Wis., is recalling about 135 wooden flipping acrobat toys.

The paint on the contains excessive levels of lead, which is prohibited under federal law.

No incidents or injuries have been reported.

The recalled flipping acrobat toys are made of painted wood and are 8.5 inches tall. The toys consist of two rectangular wooden sticks connected by a wood crosspiece near one end and a coyote, super hero, woodpecker or yellow bird wooden cartoon character suspended by nylon string at the other end.

The toys, manufactured in Peru, were sold at independent children’s stores and gift shops nationwide from September 2008, through May 2013, for about $6.

Consumers should immediately take the recalled flipping acrobat toys away from children and return them to Minga Fair Trade Imports for a full refund or credit towards a replacement product.

Consumers may contact Minga Fair Trade Imports toll-free at (855) 738-5260 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or by email at recall@mingaimports.com.