On Monday, the social media giant began rolling out a “see how you’re affected” tool at the top of News Feeds to inform users if they’re among the tens of millions of people who had their data improperly harvested by Cambridge Analytica. http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/09/technology/facebook-data-tool-cambridge-analytica/index.html
“Contractor licensing and home remodeling is kind of like the Wild West,” said Adam G. Singer, an attorney [focusing] in consumer protection with offices in Manhattan, Rockland and Westchester counties. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/realestate/how-to-avoid-a-renovation-nightmare.html
A “preliminary analysis” found credit card data was obtained for sales dating back to May 2017, according to the post. The breach likely impacted more than 130 Saks and Lord & Taylor locations across the country, but the “majority of stolen credit cards were obtained from New York and New Jersey locations.”
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2018/03/statement-acting-director-ftcs-bureau-consumer-protection?utm_source=govdelivery
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/02/02/heres-how-much-your-personal-information-is-selling-for-on-dark-web.html Here’s a first step: visit annualcreditreport.com for free credit reports. If you notice accounts that do not belong to you, contact us. We may be able to help obtain a permanent correction and compensation.
The National Consumer Law Center has issued a review of the Unfair and Deceptive Practices Laws of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Regulations differ drastically, state-to-state. “In many states, they write, “the deficiencies are glaring. Legislation or court decisions in dozens of states have narrowed the scope of UDAP laws or granted […]
Federal regulators are warning banks and other financial institutions about an expanding area of financial theft. With increasing regularity, thieves are creating identities out of thin air and running up balances on lines of credit using the phantom identities. It’s costing the financial industry billions, and presumably the costs are being passed on to customers […]
Agencies under President Trump’s executive discretion have taken a laid back approach to consumer protections relative to previous administrations. The Washington Post writes: “At the [CFPB], for example, enforcement actions have dropped from an average of three-to-five each month during the past four years down to zero since a Trump appointee took charge of the […]
Credit bureaus have reportedly returned to the practice of “trigger listing,” used extensively in the lead up to the 2008 housing market-crisis. Consumer advocate, Ed Mierzwinski, describes the process as follows: When a consumer applies for a loan to purchase property, the credit bureaus alert potential lenders to the transaction; those competitors, which Mierzwinski notes […]
Last month, Senator Jack Reed (D) of Rhode Island proposed legislation which would give consumers discretion over who sees their all-important credit information. The Control Your Personal Credit Information Act would require credit bureaus to request permission from consumers in order to share their highly personal credit-information with third-parties. Senator Reed states: “under existing law, […]