Current Events in May 2023

Scammers continued to rely on some tried and true tricks in recent days, squeezing the last ounce of cash from a variety of Mother’s Day, survey and travel scams.

But this week’s ConsumerAffairs-Trend Micro Threat Alert shows that in the last week, a new scheme popped up, seeking to victimize people planning their vacations.

HR Phishing Email 

Trend Micro's research team detected scammers impersonating the human resources (HR) department to ask victims to check the vacation approval list via a link redirecting to a fake log-in page that will collect the victim’s account information. They identified 100 logs on May 12. 

Jon Clay, Trend Micro’s vice president of Threat Intelligence, says this is a dangerous scam because it might seem, on the surface at least, believable.

“We’ve identified a troubling surge in HR phishing email scams, with attackers masquerading as the HR department to ensnare employees with a routine vacation approval request,” Clay told ConsumerAffairs. “This seemingly innocuous link leads to a fake login page designed to capture account information.  

In response to this growing threat, Clay says consumers and businesses must bolster their email security measures and enhance awareness. Key practices should include routinely scrutinizing sender details, avoiding links in unsolicited emails, and instituting two-factor verification where the employee contacts HR via a separate medium to confirm the request. 

Mother’s Day Scam  

From April 17 to May 15, Trend Micro's research team detected 725,909 Mother’s Day-related shopping scams globally and 243,821 Mother’s Day-related shopping scams in the US, which increased by 34.3% compared to the previous week. The top five states being targeted were Oregon, Virginia, California, Washington, and Ohio. The majority of victims are from Oregon: 44.21% 

Mother’s Day may be over but for many victims of various Mother’s Day scams, the pain will likely linger for a while.  Most of these scams use shopping discounts to attract users to purchase on fake shopping websites.  

You can probably expect many of these same scams will be repackaged next month and target Father’s Day.

Travel Scam  

From April 1 to May 15, Trend Micro's research team found 1,027 travel-related scam URLs, which increased by 28.6% compared to the previous two weeks. Examples of notable brands are Airbnb and Booking.com. The top five states being targeted are Oregon, Virginia, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. 

People booking a short-term rental need to be extra careful. Scammers can download photographs from other online sources to create a convincing and appealing listing.

The giveaway, however, is when the “host” demands payment in some unusual way. When booking a short-term rental, always do business on the company’s platform. Also, be wary of rates that are much lower than the competition.

Costco Survey Scam 

Trend Micro's research team detected scammers inviting customers to participate in a short survey to receive a free smartwatch. The receivers are prompted to fill in their personally identifying information (PII) and credit card info to claim the “prize.” The top five states being targeted are Maryland, California, Florida, Texas, and New York.

Consumers should generally be wary of survey requests that arrive by email. It might be normal to get a survey request immediately after having an interaction with the company. But a survey that arrives out of the blue, and especially one offering something of value for participating, should be avoided.

Amazon Phishing 

Trend Micro's research team detected scammers using security issues to inform users their account has been suspended and redirecting them to verify their account on a fake log-in website with victims’ personal information. The top five states being targeted are North Carolina, Illinois, California, New Jersey, and Tennessee. 

This is typical of most phishing scams. Operators pose as Amazon because nearly everyone these days has an Amazon account. Scammers have also posed as Netflix to pull off this scheme.

Victims who click on the link will be instructed to enter their login credentials, which will allow the scammers to take over the account. If you think your account might have been suspended, go directly to Amazon.com and try to log in.

The menu prices these days continue to make diners' eyes pop out of their heads. Prices at restaurants are rising faster than those at grocery stores and now, the average menu price is up 15.6% over a year ago.

Among the biggest hikes in the average cost of a popular meal can be found at Panera Bread, with a price of $14.76; Chipotle at $14.34; Shake Shack at $13.50 a meal; Blaze Pizza at $13.72 and Jersey Mike’s at $13.23.

And with "dynamic pricing" being bandied about, consumers might have to play games with menu prices that change depending on how many customers they have at any given hour.

And that’s just in the fast-casual world. To make matters worse, some upline “fancier” restaurants have decided to take a cue from Airbnb hosts and add some extra charges. Consumers are sounding off on social media.

“Looking to [take] my wife out to dinner in SF. On a restaurant's website they list: 20% mandatory tip (they call it an equity fee, whatever that means). 5% San Francisco health care tax. 8.625% sales tax. That's an extra 33% on top of your bill. Looks like I am cooking at home,” John Savage tweeted.

Is this ethical? Restaurants can do whatever they want, but diners are pushing back. A recent study found that only 42% of consumers are willing to cough up and pay full price to eat at their favorite go-to restaurants. 

Insider tips on saving at restaurants

To see how the other 58% can keep the menu price mongrels at bay, ConsumerAffairs asked a group of discount-thinking, food-loving experts for their personal tricks.

Share and share alike: Nina Swasdikiati, owner and founder at Ping Pong Thai in Las Vegas, told ConsumerAffairs that if she were looking for a way to save money on dining out, she would look for restaurants that served “shareable” portions. 

There are lots of restaurants that have family-sized meals for carryout – e.g., Olive Garden and Panera – and the one chain that has built its reputation on shareable, family-sized meals is classic Italian family-style eatery Buca di Beppo.

There are also tons of BBQ joints where platters of ribs or wings can be shared, but other than that, it takes a little work to find dine-in restaurants where a family can get the same thing.

Doing some homework on what options are available, ConsumerAffairs found that Foursquare.com does a version of tracking down where shareable meals can be found city by city. The best search term ConsumerAffairs found to make that happen is “The 15 Best Places for Big Portions in [name of town].”

Googling for discounts: ConsumerAffairs recently did an article about where to find the "cheapest eats," but in updating our research, we found that Eater.com also curates a list of budget-friendly restaurants for major cities. Just search for “[name of city – e.g. “Detroit’s”] Best Budget-Friendly Restaurants” to find recommendations.

Search for restaurant-specific discounts: For example, when we searched “discounts at Outback Steakhouse,” there were bundles, day-of-the-week discounts, happy hour specials, and every day full meal discounts for military veterans, medical professionals, and state or federal service members.

Search for “free meals for kids”: An additional search tip came from Andrea Woroch, a consumer and money saving expert, who told ConsumerAffairs to look for free kids' meals. “If you are dining out with children, check with local restaurants to see which ones offer free kids meals,” she said. And she’s right – ConsumerAffairs found a whole slew of chains that offered that perk, but to each their own. For example, on Tuesdays, if someone orders at least $15 on the Bob Evans app, they’ll get a free kids’ meal (one per customer).

Buy gift cards in bulk: Woroch also suggests that if a family has a favorite restaurant, they should buy a lot of gift cards from there. “Warehouse stores like Costco sell restaurant gift cards in bulk at a discount. You can get $100 worth of gift cards to California Pizza Kitchen for $80,” she said.

Skip the extras: “No, you don't need that extra portion of fries, a diet Coke, or dessert,” says Derek Sall, founder and lead of Life And My Finances​​. “These can add up really quickly, and then you'll end up paying more than you were prepared to. Besides, water is usually free at restaurants; not only is it cost-effective, but it's also healthier.” 

Stick to iced tea: Alcohol can add a lot to the final tab. Since the markup on alcohol at restaurants runs 400-500%, one option may be to pass on the restaurant's wine or cocktail list. If you are going to imbibe, it's much more economical do to so at home.

Stop “splitting” the bill: “If you're tired of always feeling like you're overpaying when you dine out with friends, consider paying for what you order,” UNSTUCKKD CEO Kahlil Dumas suggests. “If you're out at a restaurant or bar with a group of people, don't just split the bill evenly. Instead, pay only for what you consumed. This will ensure that you're not paying for someone else's expensive meal or drinks, which can add up over time.”

With inflation eating away at paychecks, you may be sinking deeper into debt. If you are, you aren’t alone.

A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows total household debt rose by $148 billion, or 0.9% to $17.05 trillion in the first quarter of 2023. As something of a surprise, credit card debt didn’t increase very much.

Instead mortgage balances climbed by $121 billion and stood at $12.04 trillion at the end of March. Auto loan and student loan balances also increased to $1.56 trillion and $1.60 trillion, respectively.

While credit card balances were flat in the first quarter, at $986 billion, that runs counter to the typical trend. Fed economists note credit card balances usually go down in the first quarter of most years.

Tony Dwyer, chief market strategist at Canaccord Genuity, believes an increase in consumer spending on credit cards is only beginning, flashing a warning sign for American households as well as the U.S. economy. In an interview with CNBC, Dwyer said consumers are still spending only because they have available credit.

‘Unsustainable’

“At some point, you’re going to deplete your cash,” Dwyer said. “At some point, the money supply data, the movement of money out of deposits into money market funds, and the use of credit cards are going to hit a level that is unsustainable and I think we’re pretty close to it.”

In an environment of rising interest rates, consumers cut back on other types of debt. Mortgage refinancings were sharply lower because homeowners with 3% mortgage rates were not eager to start paying 6%. That means home equity is staying in the home and not being taken out to spend on other things.

The volume of new auto loans was $162 billion, a reduction from pandemic-era highs but still elevated compared to pre-COVID volumes. Again, interest rates may be keeping some people from purchasing a new vehicle.

Holding onto cars longer

This week S&P Global Mobility reported that the average age of vehicles on U.S. roads hits 12.5 years, another record. The report said there are almost 122 million vehicles in operation that are over 12 years old.

High interest rates, along with inflation, may be making it harder for Americans to keep up financially. The Fed’s report shows the share of current debt becoming delinquent increased across nearly all types of debt. The delinquency transition rate for credit cards rose by 0.6% and 0.2% for auto loans.

Sometimes, having a little coaching and information can help consumers get a handle on their finances when debt starts to rise. Check out what ConsumerAffairs learned when we rated credit counseling agencies.

Though optimism is increasing that Republicans and Democrats will be able to agree on legislation to raise the debt ceiling, there is still the possibility they won’t. In that case, the U.S. government will be in default, unable to pay all of its bills.

While we’ve pointed out the impact that could have on Social Security recipients, economists say the ramifications for consumers in general and the U.S. economy would extend into many other areas. Consumers would be negatively affected on a number of fronts.

For example, people who have investment portfolios could see the value of their holdings drop sharply. As the early June deadline approaches, yields on Treasury bonds are already rising. That negatively affects current bondholders.

If you have money in a 10-year Treasury bond paying 2.5% and a default increases the rate to 5%, those 2.5% bonds are worth less, at least until maturity. Market analysts say stock prices would almost certainly go down significantly. In fact, an analysis by Moody’s Analytics says stocks could lose 33% of their value.

Housing would take a hit

The housing market, which has avoided a steep correction so far in the face of higher mortgage rates, might also be a casualty. A new report from Zillow predicts a government default could send the typical cost of a mortgage soaring by 22%. Yes, home prices might go down but mortgage rates would likely surge to 8% or higher.

"Home buyers and sellers finally have been adjusting to mortgage rates over 6% this spring, but a debt default could potentially raise borrowing costs even higher and send the market into a deep freeze," said Zillow Senior Economist Jeff Tucker. "Home values might not see a notable drop, but higher mortgage rates would severely impair affordability, for first-time buyers especially. It is critically important to find a solution and not put more strain on Americans who are striving to achieve their homeownership dreams."

Current homeowners might suddenly find it difficult to sell their homes. The Zillow analysis projects mortgage interest rates could peak at 8.4% in September in a default scenario. As a result, the housing market could freeze.

More layoffs

With the economic chaos unleashed by a default, the U.S. economy would slide into a steep recession. The wave of layoffs that has already hit a number of industries would only get bigger. 

So why would Congress play this kind of brinksmanship with so much at stake? Good question.

Pointing to the $31 trillion national debt, Republicans in the House have passed a bill that would raise the debt ceiling but would return government spending to its level at the end of December.

Democrats have rejected that, saying the debt ceiling should be raised with no conditions and with spending decisions addressed in separate legislation.

Single-family existing-home sales prices climbed in approximately 70% of measured metro areas – 152 of 221 – in the first quarter of this year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The national median single-family existing-home price declined 0.2% from one year ago to $371,200.

But those numbers cover the nation as a whole. Individual markets can differ, based on a number of factors. ConsumerAffairs has done a deep-dive into six U.S. housing markets – and one in Canada – to see how individual markets are faring. Here’s what we found:

Sacramento

California markets experienced some of the most rapid price appreciation in the nation in 2020 and 2021 so you would expect prices to fall the most in those cities. In Sacramento, that hasn’t happened.

Adam Littlefield, senior vice president of Real Estate Operations at Investment.com, reports that in the Sacramento metro area over the last six months, from November 2022 to May 2023, sales are down but prices aren’t.

“We have seen a significant decline in the number of single-family homes for sale, dropping 43% in that time,” Littlefield told ConsumerAffairs. “Prices continue to remain high in this area despite high interest rates. Over the last six months, we have seen the sold price range between 93% - 98% of the original listing price. However, this has dropped from the previous year to date where we were seeing sold prices over original list prices.”

"In the Greater Sacramento, Calif., area market we continue to struggle with low inventory,” said Greg McClure, a Realtor with Realty ONE Group Complete. “Over the last six months, the amount of available inventory went from low to even lower.”

McClure says high interest rates appear to be affecting sellers – who don’t want to give up their current low interest rates – as much as buyers.

South Florida

South Florida is another market where real estate experts predicted a significant price adjustment. Again, that has yet to materialize.

That may be because there aren't that many homes for sale. Desiree Avila, a Realtor whose territory includes Broward County, says active listings have fallen more than 21% in the last six months.

"The median sale price of single-family homes is up from $540,000 in October 2022 to $565,000 in March 2023, an increase of 4.6%,” Avila told us. “In short, overall active listings are down, sales are up and prices continue to rise.”

South Florida’s real estate market has its own particular character because of several highly desirable characteristics, and Avila says that should help it to outperform many other markets in the nation. So far, the market appears unfazed by interest rates.

“Over the next six months, barring another big event like the pandemic, I believe the market here will continue to be resilient,” Avila said.

Philadelphia

In Philadelphia, it’s still a seller’s market but not to the extent it was a year ago. Rinal Patel, the founder of Webuyphillyhome, says conditions have softened enough that buyers aren’t completely shut out.

“Inventory has increased since February enabling the housing market to return to normal since last year,” Patel said. 

But she notes homes are sitting on the market for longer periods of time, making the market feel “sluggish.” Over the next six months, she doesn’t anticipate any abrupt changes to the status quo.

“There should only be a slight increase or decrease in price, or prices may even remain the same,” she said. “However, all these are dependent on the condition that the demand and supply of houses remain as it is. I perceive things are more likely to remain steady – as steady as we have experienced in the past few months – over the next six months.

Atlanta

Atlanta is a southern real estate market that benefitted from an influx of new residents during the pandemic. But even with higher interest rates, homes have maintained their values for the most part, largely because there just aren’t that many homes for sale.

“In the past six months, the number of homes available for sale in the Greater Metro Atlanta area has decreased, which is atypical during the spring market, typically a time when the most new listings are seen,” said Todd Emerson, general manager of Harry Norman Realtors in Atlanta. The current number of homes for sale is approximately 13,500 compared to 18,000 six months ago.”

Emerson attributes the decline to the volatility of interest rates and the "lock-in" effect it has had on current homeowners. 

“Specifically, 83% of homes with mortgages have rates below 5%, and potential sellers may be hesitant to list their homes due to the prospect of purchasing a new home with a higher interest rate,” he said.

Over the next six months, Emerson expects an increase in inventory, especially if mortgage rates decline. But he notes there is currently only a two-months supply of homes on the market so the market could remain out of balance well into 2024.

Austin

Austin’s population grew rapidly during and after the pandemic, pushing up home prices. But unlike the other markets in our report, the market is not suffering from a lack of available homes for sale. Jasen Edwards, chair of the Agent Editorial Board in Austin, tells us the market is still very active.

“Over the last six months, prices have climbed by around 5% while inventory has increased by about 20%,” Edwards told ConsumerAffairs.

As for the next six months, Edwards expects Austin home prices to continue to rise, even as supply and demand continue to maintain their balance.

Apartments

Christopher Stout is principal at StoutCap, which invests in multifamily residential projects across the U.S. He tells us apartment building inventory has completely disappeared.

“Recently, we have found that our opportunity to buy has been frozen due to the rapid rise in interest rates over the last nine months,” Stout said. “We have recently purchased in North Carolina, and are now buying in Northwest Arkansas. These are wonderful markets to do business in, but deals do not come along often.”

Stout says he expects the multifamily market to “thaw” in the next six months, especially as builders continue their pace of adding new construction.

Ontario

For some international perspective on housing market trends, ConsumerAffairs went north of the border to check out market conditions in  Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario.

Ayesha Rehan is a partner at Ontario Property Buyers. She tells us there is growing confidence in Canada that rates will soon start coming down, probably before that begins to happen in the U.S.

“This has started to create a lot more buyer confidence in potential future rate cuts, resulting in a frenzy of buying activity, and forcing inventory to decline once more,” she said. “We have seen inventory drop from 536 active listings and 284 homes sold in Kitchener/Waterloo for November 2022, to 716 active listings and 611 homes sold in Kitchener/Waterloo for March 2023.”

If the U.S. housing market follows that pattern, a recession in the U.S. that prompts the Federal Reserve to stop raising and begin cutting interest rates could result in more home sales and higher prices since, with lower mortgage rates, homes would be more affordable than they are now.

If you blew it on Mother’s Day and didn’t get mom a gift, not to worry – the U.S. government has a few they’d like to give her, and all the stepmoms, grandmothers, and mother figures as thanks for all they do.

Nope, it’s not candy or flowers or a rebate check for being a good mom, but rather four little-known programs that financially support women and mothers who take care of themselves and their flock.

Child Care help

Anyone who has an infant knows that the cost of childcare is a runaway train. The median yearly childcare price for one child in center-based infant care now runs more than $8,000 in small counties to more than $17,000 in very large counties. Even the parents who opt for home-based infant care could be looking at anywhere from $6,000-$11,000 out of pocket. 

Luckily, the Child Care and Development Fund helps low-income families with children under 13 afford childcare. The program helps make sure that children are safe, healthy, and growing while their parents are working or attending school.

Additionally, the Child Care Resource and Referral Services program helps find childcare programs that meet a family’s needs. In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must be a parent or primary caregiver responsible for children under the age of 19 years or responsible for a child(ren) with a disability.

Nutrition help

The WIC program (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education to women who are pregnant, nursing, postpartum, or with children feve years old or younger – if they are considered low income. Services are also available to infants and children up to age five who are nutritionally vulnerable. 

An added benefit of WIC is that it can be combined with other programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. 

The WIC’s How to Apply page has further information.

Women's Health Care Benefits for Veterans

Moms who have served in the military have the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to thank for six comprehensive medical services for women. These services include:

• Health promotion and disease prevention

• Primary care

• Mental health services

• Women's gender-specific health care (e.g., hormone replacement therapy, breast and gynecological care, maternity, and limited infertility

• Acute medical/surgical, telephone, emergency, and substance abuse treatment

• In-home, rehabilitation, and long-term care

This program is available at all VA Medical Centers and the only qualification is that an applicant has to be enrolled in the VA health care system or qualify based on one of the exceptions in the law. Anyone interested should check out the Basic Medical Benefits Package for Veterans to see the complete program requirements.

Family Planning Services

Several local clinics are operated by Family Planning Services to provide family planning and preventive health services to women and their families. To help you decide how many and how far apart to have children, these services include educational resources, medical screenings, and social services. The Clinic Finder will help you locate a clinic near you and how to apply.

And there are federal benefits for more than just parents, too

If you think that the only people who receive federal benefits are low-income Americans, you’d be wrong. Yes, a lot of public benefits go to senior citizens who’ve paid for those services over a lifetime of work, but many middle-class families are eligible for these programs. 

To find out what benefits and resources you might qualify for, check out the U.S. government's Benefit Finder. The form can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to finish, but once you have completed the questionnaire, you will receive a list of government benefits you may be eligible for and where you can apply. By the way, all answers are kept confidential. 

For everyone who feared that the streaming service landscape would eventually be littered with advertisements, the earth moved another couple of inches in that direction last week.

Leading the concerns is Disney+. It’s only been a half year since Disney+ raised its ad-free subscription price, but its latest subscription totals have hit the wall.

The company now has 4 million fewer subscribers, but as the company frames the narrative, that’s okay. The Mouse’s spreadsheet shows that it’s actually closer to profitability because its losses are down 26% year over year. CEO Bob Iger likes what he sees so much that he’s indicated that Disney+ will raise prices again for its ad-free option before the year’s out.

Disney also announced last week that it'll start piping content from Hulu into its Disney+ app later this year. 

Ads are where it’s at

“The sad truth is that viewers who watch ads are better for business than those who don't. Commercial-free TV will become more of a luxury as a result,” says TechHive’s Jared Newman. In other words, consumers better start getting comfortable with ads, because they'll have to pay through the nose to avoid them.

Newman looked all the way back to 2019 to find out how we got here. It all began with Hulu which was the first to figure out that it could carry more money to the bank from ad-supported viewers than ad-free ones.

Even though the ad-supported customers paid less, the company made tons more simply because of all the money it made serving ads to those customers.

Eventually, that same light bulb lit up at Netflix. It too, says that its $6.99-per-month plan with ads brings in more money per subscriber than its standard $15.49/mo. plan in the U.S.

Others want more money, too, whether it’s from ad-free or ads-on options. HBO Max – er, make that just “Max” – is in the with-ads world too, and recently raised its monthly price by a dollar. A dollar might not sound like much, but it can add tens of millions a month to the company’s checking account.

Will Disney+ follow? Newman says it hasn’t shown its hand in that regard, yet. However, on a recent earnings call, Iger said his company’s last hike had “proven successful,” and that the next one will “better reflect the value of our content offerings.” 

Read those tea leaves as you like.

Tom and Charlotte rule the world

Reelgood – a streaming aggregator and app recommended earlier in ConsumerAffairs feature about streaming services – tells ConsumerAffairs that its eyeball-driven Top 10 is packed with new favorites this week. Tom Hanks’ comedy-drama movie A Man Called Otto and original show Queen Charlotte – both on Netflix – secured their place among the most popular titles this week, along with AppleTV+’s Silo at number three.

The entire Top 10 streaming shows go like this:

A Man Called Otto (Netflix)

The Diplomat (Netflix)

Jury Duty (available on Amazon's freevee)

Silo (on AppleTV+)

Queen Charlotte (Netflix)

Ghosted (on AppleTV+)

Succession (HBOMax)

Citadel (PrimeVideo)

Scream VI (Paramount+), and

Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+)

Years after millions of cars with Takata airbags were recalled because of faulty inflators, federal safety regulators claim another company’s airbag inflators have a similar problem and pose a threat to consumers.

In a letter to ARC Automotive, of Knoxville, Tenn., the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said its investigation had concluded that certain air bag inflators designed by the company were prone to rupture and asked the company to issue a recall.

“NHTSA is issuing this recall request letter to notify you that the agency has tentatively concluded that a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists in the frontal driver and passenger air bag inflators under investigation that were produced before installation of borescopes on all toroidal inflator manufacturing lines in January 2018 (“subject inflators”), and to demand that ARC issue a Part 573 Recall Report addressing that safety defect,” the letter states.

ARC Automotive issued a statement saying that its inflators do not have a defect. It said the issue stems from the way the airbags are manufactured.

"We disagree with NHTSA's new sweeping request when extensive field testing has found no inherent defect," the company said in a statement.

How NHTSA sees the problem

But NHTSA characterizes the issue this way:

“ARC’s inflator design is such that during a triggered deployment, the stored gas, excited by the propellant, has a single path through the exit orifice to exit the inflator and fill the airbag cushion. Should any debris of sufficient size be in the inflator center support, the exit orifice could become blocked. Blockage of the exit orifice could cause over-pressurization of the airbag inflator. Over-pressurization of the inflator has the potential to cause it to rupture resulting in metal fragments being forcefully propelled into the passenger compartment.”

According to NHTSA, General Motors has issued a recall for almost 1 million vehicles that have airbags with ARC inflators. The recall covers certain Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia SUVs.

NHTSA says at least two deaths have been reported in the U.S. and Canada caused by ruptured inflators. It has counted at least seven injuries linked to the inflators.

Under U.S. law, federal regulatory agencies do not have the authority to order a recall. The recall must be initiated by the company.

Utility scams have returned to the scene. ConsumerAffairs has noticed recent spikes in Florida, Arkansas, New Jersey, California, and Arizona.

In California alone, based on data collected so far this year, scammers are on their way to doing 57,000 scam attempts in 2023 and snagging $1.26 million from PG&E customers.

But this time, it’s not the same old utility yadda yadda. This time, scammers are using QR codes and text messages in addition to phone calls to pull off their con job.

Case in point, Mesa Ariz., and a consumer named Chet Hopper. We’ll let KTVK-TV / KPHO-TV On Your Side’s Susan Campbell explain.

“Chet Hopper is busy driving for Uber and Lyft. He’s racking up more trips than usual, trying to make up for $1,300 he lost to a scammer. It started with a phone call from someone claiming to be from SRP," Campbell reported.

"They said [my electricity] was scheduled for shut off that day and I needed to get it taken care of right away,” Hopper told On Your Side. 

Then, the scammers twisted the knife deeper, sending Hopper a text message with a bar code where he could supposedly pay the utility balance at Walgreens. Then there was a second bar code just to make sure Hopper knew this was serious business.

“I made the first payment for the $321, and they said that the bar code had timed out in their system and I needed to go and do it again, but I’d be reimbursed within 48 hours,” Hopper said. “Then they said, ‘well, you were supposed to pay a security deposit, and so I had another Walgreens barcode, $300.”

In all, Hopper made four transactions. “Turns out that was like a prepaid credit card that I’m just putting money on for these individuals,” he said.

Good morning, ma’am – we’re here to test your water

Another new utility scam has sprung up in Arkansas. According to Springdale Water Utilities, there’ve been reports of people trying to pass as their employees wanting to gain access to homes under the guise of testing the purity of water. 

Unfortunately, consumers tend to trust public service officials at their word and don’t ask to see a badge or look at whether the person is wearing an official shirt or driving an official vehicle.

The lessons to be learned

Whether it’s Arkansas or Arizona or California, utility companies are going on the offensive, reminding their customers that they aren’t going to send them a text message telling them their utilities are about to be shut off; showing up at their front door without some sort of identification; and are not going to ask for payment by a money transfer service like PayPal or Zelle.

Like never, ever.

“As a reminder, PG&E will never send a single notification to a customer within one hour of a service interruption, and we will never ask customers to make payments with a pre-paid debit card, gift card, any form of cryptocurrency, or third-party digital payment mobile applications,” the company said in a news release warning its customers about what they can expect.

"If you ever receive a call threatening utility disconnection if you do not make immediate payment, hang up the phone and either log into your account on PGE.com or call our customer service number to confirm your account details. Remember, PG&E will never ask for your financial information over the phone or via email, nor will we request payment via pre-paid debit cards or other payment services like Zelle. End the call, end the scam," said Matt Foley, lead customer scam investigator for PG&E.

City officials in all of the other instances are preaching the same sermon. If you get a call from anyone who says they’re with the utility company, hang up and call the utility company’s customer service line immediately.

Loneliness, sadness, depression, anxiety – Google searches for these terms are off the chart.

It’s not because it’s Mental Health Month either, although that would be a nice excuse. Ever since COVID-19 strode into the U.S., everyone has been affected: 86% of teens, who knows how many senior citizens, even the Surgeon General says there’s an epidemic of sadness and loneliness.

And, since we live in a time where an app can do anything, well, why not let an app get us all out of our funk?

Despite a mental health app’s good intentions, Mozilla’s latest *Privacy Not Included study shows mental health apps are failing to protect user privacy and security – a factor that could make us wring our hands even more if a hacker gets possession of our private information and starts leveraging it to their benefit.

Fifty-nine percent of the top apps studied were given *Privacy Not Included warning labels, while 40% have gotten worse over the last year.

'I’ll be your very best friend…'

Of concern to Mozilla’s researchers were the apps that pretend to want to cuddle up with a user a little too much.  They found many apps that were jam-full of tracking code, with the app Cerebral installing 799 trackers onto a person’s phone within the first minute of download. 

There were also apps that wasted no time collecting information – before even asking for consent. The researchers said that Talkspace, Happify, and BetterHelp all pushing consumers into taking questionnaires up front without asking for their permission or showing their privacy policies first.

One app that freaked out Mozilla’s team was, what else but an AI app? “Replika: My AI Friend” which wants to be your virtual reality best friend is one of the worst apps Mozilla said it’s ever reviewed and voted by users as the 10th “most creepy.”

“It’s plagued by weak password requirements, sharing of personal data with advertisers, and recording of personal photos, videos, and voice and text messages consumers shared with the chatbot,” the researchers said.

Others in the Top 10 of the apps users voted the “most creepy” include (in order) Pride Counseling, Better Stop Suicide, Pray, Cerebral, Better Help, TalkSpace, The Mighty, 7 Cups, and Youper.

“The worst offenders are still letting consumers down in scary ways, tracking and sharing their most intimate information and leaving them incredibly vulnerable,” said Jen Caltrider, Mozilla’s *Privacy Not Included Lead. 

But it can be done the right way, too

On the other hand, Caltrider praised a handful of apps that handle data responsibly and respectfully, proving that it can do things the right way. One that found itself in the “most creepy” category – Youper – is trying to turn its life around and is running for “most-improved app” for significantly strengthening both its password requirements and privacy policy. 

Another is Woebot which has improved its privacy policy to explain that all users now have the same rights to access and delete their own data. When ConsumerAffairs investigated Woebot on the Play Store, it also says that no data is shared with third parties, the data is encrypted in transit, and a user can request that data be deleted – all a definite positive.

TurboTax’s parent company, Intuit, was sued by all 50 states in 2022 for steering low-income Americans away from free tax-filing services in favor of using its paid filing platform. This ultimately led to a $141 million settlement for more than 4.4 million Americans across the country. 

Now, consumers involved in the lawsuit should prepare to see their settlement checks in the mail in the coming weeks. 

“TurboTax’s predatory and deceptive marketing cheated millions of low-income Americans who were trying to fulfill their legal duties to file their taxes,” New York State Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “Today we are righting that wrong and putting money back into the pockets of hardworking taxpayers who should have never paid to file their taxes. I thank my fellow attorneys general for their partnership in this effort to stand up for ordinary Americans and hold companies who cheat consumers accountable.” 

Who is eligible for the settlement?

Who will be receiving the settlement from TurboTax and Intuit? According to the official settlement website, there are two main groups that will be receiving payouts: 

• Anyone who paid Intuit to file their federal taxes through TurboTax for tax years 2016, 2017, or 2018, but was eligible to participate in the IRS’ Free File program. 

• Those who were eligible to use a TurboTax Free Edition Product, but were then informed they were ineligible to use such products, and ultimately utilized a TurboTax paid product to file their taxes, and also hadn’t used the Intuit Free File Product in a previous year. 

The amount consumers will receive from the settlement ultimately comes down to how many years they utilized TurboTax’s services while also being eligible for Free File. While most consumers are expected to receive around $30 from the settlement, those who utilized these products for all three tax years could end up with around $85. 

Those receiving payouts will hear from Rust Consulting, the third-party company handling the settlement, by email. The email will contain details on how much your portion of the settlement will be, and no further action will be necessary. All payments will be made via check and sent in the mail throughout the month. 

The settlement agency encourages consumers to be patient with receiving their checks. If they haven’t received anything by mid-June, they can request to have their payment re-issued and will need to provide their claimant ID number from their original email.