Michael Finney's Consumer Blog

Why now is a good time to get a passport

On June 1st you will need a passport or a passport card to enter the United States.  Get a passport; the cards are very limited in use. The cards are only good for land and water entries from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.  If you are on a plane or coming from another destination you will need a passport.

Passports cost $100, are good for 10 years and are pretty simple to get.  Here’s all the information you need: http://travel.state.gov/passport

Finney’s Tuesday Free Stuff

Driving around the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout Northern California I am seeing wildflowers blooming beside the roads.  Having grown up here I am partial to the California Poppy and Mustard, but all the wild flowers are beautiful.

What better way to give back than to plant some of your own.  Or use these free seeds for a great -read easy- project for you and your kids: Planting wild flowers out in the backyard or in a flower pot. 

http://www.bentleyseeds.com/samples.php?st=wildflowers

Big jump in Internet crime

ABC News is reporting:  The National White Collar Crime Center released a report which shows over a 33% increase in Internet crime complaints since 2007. In 2008, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 275,284 complaint submissions a (33.1% increase from 2007).

The total dollar loss from all referred cases of fraud was $264.6 million with a median dollar loss of $931.00 per complaint. This is up from $239.1 million in total reported losses in 2007.  Of the 72,940 fraudulent referrals processed by IC3 during 2008, 63,382 involved a victim who reported a monetary loss.

The vast majority of perpetrators contact their victims through e-mail (74.0%) or a Web page (28.9%). Others reportedly had phone contact (15.0%) with the perpetrator or corresponded through physical mail (8.3%). 

The report also says many of the scammers attempt to fool consumers into believing the FBI is involved. "Invariably, the e-mails attempt to create an air of legitimacy by claiming to be from FBI Director Robert Mueller, Deputy Director John S. Pistole, or some other high-ranking official or investigative unit within the FBI.  For instance, many e-mails refer to the FBI’s Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division—presumably in an effort to support the idea that if e-mail recipients do not comply, they will become vulnerable to allegations of terrorist activities. Internet users should know, however, that the FBI does not contact U.S. citizens regarding personal financial matters through unsolicited e-mails."

One week left on big airfare sale

The Southwest airline fare sale is still going on and it is good for the next week.  Every year the airline has a similar sale, but this year the cheap fares are good through mid August and the only blackout days are Friday and Sunday.  www.southwest.com

You have to buy the flights a couple weeks in advance but that’s no big deal.  When looking at fares check other airlines as well, even the majors will sometimes match or even undercut Southwest on some routes.

On international flights, prices are dropping and may not have already hit their low. Here’s a good place to check on fares: www.yapta.com. This site keeps track of historic data on airfares and hotels.  This is information you can use to try to “buy at the bottom.”

Free government money for your commute

The president’s recently signed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has a great perk for commuters. It nearly doubles the transit allowance your employer can pass on to you.

The benefit allows consumers to buy mass transit passes for trains, buses, and ferries. In the past the government has allowed a maximum allowance of $115 a month. Now that has been increased to $230.

The San Mateo County Transit District says the benefit can work one of three ways:

Employers give their workers up to $230 for transit as a tax-free benefit.

Employers give employees the option to use payroll deductions to avoid paying taxes on up to $230 a month in commuting costs.

Employers and employees split the costs of the benefits

For more information check in with your employer’s human relations office.

Are free credit reports really free?

It seems like everyone is offering you a free credit report these days. Don’t fall for it. Most aren’t free at all and are just a come-on to get you to buy their services. Some of these are total ripoffs; others are run by legitimate companies.

Either way, the result is often the same.  Consumers end up paying for what was thought to be a free credit report. What happens is the consumer logs on to a site looking for the free credit report. To get the free report, they must first sign up for another service, often a monitoring service that looks for identity theft. These services can cost anywhere from a few dollars a month to several hundred dollars a year.

So how can the credit reports be considered free?  Well these offers usually allow customers to cancel the service without paying if the cancellation takes place within a certain time period, usually between 30 and 60 days.

There are two problems with this. 1) Many consumers forget to cancel the service. 2) Consumers don’t understand what they are signing up for, believing the offer was free.

There is place to get a free credit report, three in fact, it is www.annualcreditreport.com.

This government-sanctioned site gives consumers one free credit report a year from each of the three major reporting agencies. The consumer can choose to get all three at once, or to get one at a time, keeping a constant -- and free -- vigil on their credit worthiness.

Your credit score just changed

Your credit score could be heading up... or down... but it is certainly not staying the same. Why?  The rules have just been changed.  Fair Isaac Corporation created the FICO credit score -- the first and most widely used score. Now the company is changing the way it measures risk.

A late payment won’t bring down your score as much as it used to, but a high use of credit will count against you more. Apparently FICO believes those who run up their cards in this economy are less likely to pay back their loans than those who on occasion pay late.

FICO scores run from 300 to 850, with the best interest rates traditionally reserved for those who have a credit score of 720 and above.  Now to be on the safe side, aim for 760 on up.

Recalls on children's hoodies

Drawstrings on children's sweatshirts get caught on fences and playground equipment causing children to get tangled up and even die from strangulation.  Children's hoodies with drawstrings have been banned for years and yet, constantly we are seeing recalls of kids’ hoodies.

Today alone six recalls.  This is amazing that this is continuing to happen.  The government needs to do more inspections and education to keep these items from getting on the market.

Until that happens, tell your friends and family who have children to be careful and don't buy hoodies that have drawstrings.

Below the latest from the Consumer Product Safety Commission on brands issuing recalls; nearly 20,000 items.

1. Children's Hooded Fleece Jackets with Drawstrings Recalled by Golden Grove Trading Due to Strangulation Hazard

2. La Jolla Sport Recalls Children's Hooded Sweatshirts with Drawstrings Due to Strangulation Hazard

3. Children's Hooded Sweatshirts with Drawstrings Recalled by Dysfunctional Clothing Due to Strangulation Hazard

4. Children's Hooded Sweatshirts Recalled by MM Compound Due to Strangulation Hazard

5. Children's Hooded Sweatshirts with Drawstrings Recalled by Rusty North America Due to Strangulation Hazard

Half-price dinner deals

Tough times for restaurants and other establishments mean good deals for consumers.  Here’s a website that is set up to sell half-price certificates.  Well-known and some not so well-known dinner and beverage spots are highlighted. The basic deal is this: you pay $25.00 for a $50.00 certificate. The catch? The certificates are sent out by mail and you won’t receive them for seven to 10 days.

Circolo, Pier 23, NYPD Pizza, Los Gatos Brewing Company, plus many more.  The site posts the deal details and how many certificates are available. It is a first-come first-serve.  Make sure and read the fine print, sometimes the tiny writing makes the deal even better, sometimes not.

Also discounts on tanning and other services.  It is worth clicking on once a week just to keep track of the deals.

www.diningdealssf.com

Cheating company will pay $3 million

From 7 On Your Side:

A multi-million dollar settlement has been announced against a company accused of unfairly overcharging as many as 6,000 Californians annually for sometimes unnecessary home repair work.
 
7 On Your Side first began investigating this company in 2003 and knew the company as Pick Red, but throughout its history the state says it has been known by numerous other names. Now, for the first time, authorities have gone after the parent company SRVS Charge Inc.

Read and watch the full story at ABC7NEWS.COM.