Filed under: Debt, Ripoffs and Scams, Fraud, Buyer Beware

A group of Florida men who made false promises that they could fix consumers’ credit agreed to a $21 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that was reduced to $5,000 apiece because they stated they couldn’t afford the more massive sum, the FTC announced.

The FTC stated it would reimpose the higher number, which spokesman said accounts for the gross revenue of the business, if the three defendants fail to pay the $5,000 or they lied about their financial conditions.

Ace Group, Inc., also known as American Credit Experts, Inc., The Ace Group, Inc., The Ace Group, and ACE; and Legal Credit Repair Center, Inc. were the subject of a federal lawsuit filed late last year by the FTC. Also cited were principals Michael Singer, Gerald Roth and Melvin Kessler.

The FTC stated they told consumers they could get negative entries on their credit reports removed and charged $60 upfront and then another $60 a month thereafter. Dispute letters sent by the company didn’t achieve the promised result, the FTC said.

The men concurred to stop collecting money from people who had signed up for their services and to protect their customers’ identities as they dispose of the personal and financial information that had been collected. Two separate judgments were filed in the case: One that covered Singer and Roth and the other on Kessler, who filed for protection under federal bankruptcy laws.

The FTC warns consumers that using such services isn’t the solution to credit problems. The commission offers advice on its web site on what consumers with credit problems can do to help their situations. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has some additional information on avoid debt elimination scams.

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Filed under: Real Estate, Ripoffs and Scams

A couple returning home from vacation found their locks re-keyed, the furniture gone and a man living there who claimed to be the legal owner in what has to be one of the most bizarre cases of home theft ever.

Daniel Judd, 66, has stated he bought the house from a friend while Tom Decker and his wife Marie McArthur were away for six weeks, according to a Santa Cruz Sentinel story.

When the couple returned and complained to authorities about the man living in their home in Ben Lomond, Calif., Judd showed authorities a deed that’s now thought to have falsified. The couple were barred from the property, even though they’re now back in after the scam was revealed.

Continue reading Pair accused of changing house deed while owners on vacation

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Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Shopping

As Aaron Crowe explained in his current post, the new federal Cash For Clunkers program could be a sweet deal for some of you still driving old, inefficient iron.

However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NITSA), which runs the program, warns that scammers are already setting up Web sites to rip off people eager to see if their jalopies qualify.

Here’s the deal, people — go to www.Automobiles.gov for the real info on this program, the official name of which is the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS- get it?) You don’t need to register beforehand for the program!

The true rip-off sites will try to convince you that you do need to register, and attempt to gather as much info about you as possible.

Here’s a video news report from myfoxdc.com:

Continue reading Beware the Cash For Clunkers scammers

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Filed under: International markets, Other issues, Rants and raves, Competitive strategy, Workspace, Media World, Headline news

While Michael Jackson is referred to affectionately by fans as the “King of Pop” . He could have just as easily carried the title “The hardest working man in show business” except for the fact that elder statesmen of the music world, the late James Brown earned that title first.

While recriminations are being thrown around about the specific cause of Jackson’s death, the primary reason he passed away might really have been overwork. In truth, his sleep disorder, eating disorder, drug dependency and seemingly bazaar behavior at times might have all stemmed from his obsessiveness. He truly gave his fans everything he had in him right to the very end.

Many of us have been accused of being workaholics, some worse than others. Michael Jackson was an extreme example pushed by his perfectionist attitude and the fact that he always felt the need to surpass his already high performance level.

Continue reading Michael Jackson fireworks, the workaholic

Michael Jackson fireworks, the workaholic originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Home, Ripoffs and Scams

“Bizarre” skulker(s) in Seattle neighborhoods and city parks have been stealing trees, plants and shrubs, to the tune of thousands of dollars worth of public and private property.

One woman and plant theft victim, however, was a Costco shopper. And there was a sale. On security cameras.

Only a few weeks later, her video of a plant thief removing and making off with her new daphne shrub was making the waves on YouTube.

And then she was on NPR, giggling evilly about her new security measures. She’s chained her magnolia tree to the fence. The new daphne? It’s chained at the base, put the chain through some heavy pottery, and then: barbed wire. April Jahns states, if the thief comes back, “he’s going to get poked. A little bonus for me.”

Continue reading Plant thief on the loose in Seattle

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Filed under: Private equity industry, Management fees

Private equity investors are using current financial market constraints on liquidity to negotiate favorable deals, as private equity general partners have watched the values of their portfolios fall profoundly. Efforts to attract additional investment haven’t been simple, as potential limited partners are reluctant to make long commitments in an uncertain marketplace. This has given limited partners a stronger position from which to negotiate both fees and terms and conditions.

Limited partners are getting a leg up on the private equity funds in which they invest, signaling a change from the historical trend in which funds could push for aggressive compensation based on the returns they provide. In a poll conducted by Preqin, 43% of investors noted a power shift from fund to limited partner, with only 2% seeing a shift toward the general partner.

Among the changes to fund terms and conditions, pricing has been most prevalent; more than 60% of the investors polled noticed that the management fee rate had fallen. This comes after several years of management fee stability at approximately 2% per year. The mean management fee for buyout funds has fallen 20 basis points (funds currently in the market versus those shut most recently), and fees for venture funds fell 15 basis points, making these sectors the most heavily affected.

The largest funds have suffered most, with buyout funds managing $1 billion or more sustaining management fee drops of 25 basis points. This doesn’t mean the smaller funds have been spared, however. Those with assets under management of $500 million and below saw their management fees, on average, fall under 2% for the first time.

Investors pressure private equity funds to cut fees originally appeared on BloggingBuyouts on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Buyer Beware

When I pass a store sporting a big sign that reads “Going Out Of Business” I presume that it is, well, going out of business.

Not necessarily, however; a Texas businessman, after experiencing the frenzy that these words inspire in bargain vultures, decided to name his ongoing rug business “Going Out Of Business.”

According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), owner Cyrus Hassankola has done brisk trade in previous locations by going out of business. Unfortunately, the hurmorless, anti-business Texas Attorney General’s office has forced him to rename his store, at least temporarily.

I ran into a similar strategy years ago when buying T-shirts for an event. The brand of the shirt stock was “Made In The USA,” which meant they could have been made anywhere in the world.

If Hassankola wins his fight with the Texas AG, it could spawn a whole new store- naming protocol. I wouldn’t be surprised to find chains adopting names such as:

• “Sheriff’s Sale”
• “Divorce Sale — Hurry, Before He Finds Out I’m Selling All His Toys”
• “I’m Drunk — Make Me An Offer”
• “Garage Sale Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. — ????”
• “Stuff Left In Unlocked Cars”
• “Junk I Fished Out Of The Trash”
• “My Son The Fence — Inventory Reduction”
• “Evicted! Lawn Sale This day Only”
• “IRS Liquidation”
• “We All Went To Lunch And Forgot To Lock The Door”

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Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Fraud, Relationships

Grandparents from coast to coast are getting shaken down and being conned into believing their grandchildren are being held in a Canadian jail and need cash to make bail. As unlikely as this scam might seem, it just keeps coming back — something that happens when people pay up.

The Attorney General’s office in Idaho issued an alert warning that people in that say have been targeted. About a dozen complaints were filed before the alert was issued, the office stated.

This isn’t just an Idaho thing. Grandparents across the nation have reported getting this call — with some admitting they forked over the cash.

Phonebusters, a consortium of Canadian law enforcement authorities who monitor such scams, first noticed the increase in complaints about this one in the fall. As time has passed, more and more say and local authorities have been hearing the stories of elders being taken. The problem just keeps growing.

Continue reading It’s not likely your grandchild is in a Canadian jail

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Filed under: Banks, Ripoffs and Scams, Technology, Fraud, Consumer Complaints

My family knows about cashier’s check scams and other crafty international methods of loosing the elderly and other emotionally fragile types from their money. Over the past few months, both my husband’s great uncle and his sister’s ailing landlord have been the subject of a series of shysters and hopeful perpetrators of fraud; and despite a great deal of effort on my husband’s part, no law enforcement officials, banks or wire services helped in the least. Fortunately, my husband has talked them out of sending money in each case.

Continue reading How to save elderly relatives who keep falling for scams

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Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Buyer Beware

You can make up to $943 a day posting Web links! Wow, what a deal.

That’s among the crazy claims Web users are getting peppered with from a collection of outfits that claim they can get you a piece of Google’s advertising booty. After all, if Google’s collecting billions, why can’t you collect thousands of it a week? For anyone who thinks that really makes sense, you could be in trouble.

So, how does it work?

Continue reading Gimme some of that Google cash — yeah right

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