For years, consumer advocates have warned there’s no free lunch. But that standing advice may be changing. An increasing number of products and services are available to consumers at no cost. Free lunch may be a reality, after all…along with free breakfast, credit reports, phone service and a host of other goods and services.
AdPerk, for […]

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Airline spammers are trying again to trick consumers into infecting their computers with malicious software. The scam involves an email with phony airline ticket invoices and boarding passes–and a warning that the purchase has been charged to the recipient’s credit card–a security company said today.
Trend Micro Inc.’s researchers caught spammed email messages featuring bogus eTickets […]

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Consumers often struggle between replacement or repair of electronic equipment. From an environmental standpoint, it’s usually better to reuse than replace it. But from an economic standpoint, that may not make sense.

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The Federal Trade Commission put telemarketers on notice this week that the end was near for several common but annoying automated direct marketing practices, including the use of prerecorded sales messages and predictive dialers.
The FTC approved amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule that ban prerecorded sales messages without the written consent of the target consumer […]

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Simple mistakes can affect your data and identity.

Technology is no match for the carelessness of the consumers who use it. That’s the warning from Consumer Reports, which identifies seven of the most common online errors in its September issue. The Yonkers-based organization identified the worst things computer users can do, including:
1. […]

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Before you insist you’re too smart to fall for a phishing scam, consider this: you’re probably not. Computer security experts say cyber thieves are increasingly sophisticated, making it hard for the average computer user to keep up with scams.
Some phishing emails now scan the browser history, identify which websites were recently visited and automatically configure […]

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Is anybody watching the road? Many teens ignore laws against cell phone use while driving. But they aren’t the only ones chatting it up in the car-and researchers say all that talk time is slowing traffic and lengthening your commute. If you’re wasting more time in traffic, you’re probably wasting gas. So isn’t that enough […]

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A Canton, OH-based company claims it’s giving consumers up to two free digital TV converter boxes-and isn’t even requiring them to submit $40 US government issued coupons. But the Better Business Bureau warns the so-called free offer from Universal TechTronics will actually cost consumers about $100 per box-or 400% more than the cost of […]

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Can I Really Neutralize My Energy Use? Feeling guilty about driving an SUV, taking unnecessary trips abroad or keeping your house unreasonable cool all summer long? Now you can neutralize your environmental irresponsibility by balancing it against an equal amount of positive actions. At least in theory, anyway.
That’s the concept behind the complex but increasingly […]

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If you have a student loan, check your credit. You could be a potential victim of a computer glitch by the nation’s leading provider of student loans. Reston, VA-based Sallie Mae incorrectly reported some accounts as delinquent on a routine download of information to a major credit-reporting agency. The coding error made it seem as […]

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