In 2014, 38,313 men in the United States shared the name “James Smith.” It’s impossible to know if any of them were related to each other, or the 34,810 Michael Smiths and 34,269 Robert Smiths also walking around. But we can expect that they, and the 32,092 Maria Garcias and 30,507 Maria Rodriguezes, all have […]
Category Archives: News
What’s in a name? There is a great deal of frustration, confusion, and even difficulty navigating normal life if you are among the 38,000 Americans named James Smith or one of the 32,000 Maria Garcias in the United States. If you have a common first- and surname combination, it’s likely that you’ve been misidentified as […]
Is your name James Smith? If so, you’re not just not alone, but as far from alone as it’s possible to be. That’s because this is the most common combination of first and last names in the world. And chances are you’ve developed a way to distinguish yourself, at least in your social circle or […]
Have you ever been denied a bank or credit union loan, had an apartment application denied, or stood red-faced and sweating as the supermarket cashier says your debit card has been declined? If so, you know that financial and credit-related issues can be embarrassing and anxiety-inducing. But did you realize that you could be compensated […]
America runs on…data? If you stopped in at a Dunkin’ Donuts location between 2015 and 2019, there’s a good chance that you paid a hefty price for that cold-brew coffee or glazed kruller. That may be in part because the popular pastry chain was targeted by hackers who gained illicit access to customers’ Dunkin-branded payment […]
Forced arbitration being turned on its head. Hopefully consumers will see the end of forced arbitration sooner than later. https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-faced-75-000-arbitration-demands-now-it-says-fine-sue-us-11622547000?mod=hp_lead_pos6 Adam Zimmerman, a professor at Loyola Law School who studies class actions, said Amazon’s move could cause other companies to consider scrapping arbitration. But a wave of change is unlikely, he said, because lawsuits create […]
Was this sufficient compensation? The FTC alleged that some Vivint sales representatives used a process known as “white paging,” which involved finding another consumer with the same or a similar name on the White Pages app and using that consumer’s credit history to qualify the prospective unqualified customer. Vivint sales representatives also sometimes asked customers […]
https://www.cnbc.com/select/why-you-should-know-your-fico-credit-score-how-often-to-check/ Checking your credit reports for free at http://annualcreditreport.com/ is a good start. But to know the score(s) used by most lenders — the FICO score(s) — consumers must look beyond just their free credit reports or even the Vantage scores offered by the credit bureaus.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/was-my-facebook-data-leaked-what-you-need-to-know-11617751579 More identity theft, more ways for thieves to access credit in another consumer’s name. Consumers can still get free weekly credit reports from https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action for free credit reports.
Consumers have a lot to do to stay financially healthy. One of those priorities includes knowing what the credit bureaus are reporting. http://www.consumerreports.org/credit-scores-reports/why-the-pandemic-may-be-hurting-your-credit-score/