The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles consumers to receive a free copy of their credit report from each of the three nationwide reporting agencies - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion - every twelve months. Many television advertisements and Web sites claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free credit scores” or “free credit monitoring.” However, BBB reminds consumers that AnnualCreditReport.com is the only authorized source for free annual credit reports under federal law.

Consumers have become used to seeing the catchy songs for freecreditreport.com, but AnnualCreditReport.com also brings the entertainment without the $14.95 monthly fee associated with not cancelling a membership. Click the link below to see the no-strings-attached jingles...

http://www.ftc.gov/freereports

Just to add on another piece of good news to our press release this morning, Visa has terminated its payment processing services to over 100 merchants because of their poor history with BBB and the Federal Trade Commission. Visa says the number of complaints from their cardholders disputing charges from these merchants has shot up since this summer because of the deceptive ads they use. As we mentioned in our press release, the specific target mentioned in this campaign are companies who market free trial offers to consumers, but then charge for shipping and handling and continue to bill month to month after the trial period ends.

Keep in mind that this type of marketing, called negative option marketing, is NOT illegal because technically these companies are disclosing the terms and conditions associated with the offer. The problem lies in the fact that the verbage is located in fine print carefully placed in parts of the Web site where consumers are less likely to read it. Yes it's the holiday season, but just remember that while your family and friends will give you gifts, most companies will not.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ifRYIKv2HapKvDzhpvfj1_ij0DjAD9CL2N0O2

 
Remember when you were a kid and your holiday shopping consisted of spending hours thumbing through catalogs? The Sunday paper and the mailbox were the "go to" sources for the best deals from Thanksgiving through the holiday season. That has changed now with a large amount of shopping done online, but now mobile phones are even making your personal computer obsolete. A recent retail survey showed that nearly 20 percent of consumers were using their mobile phones while shopping to find store locations, information on sales, price comparison and even coupon information. That figure nearly doubles to 40 percent for the 18-29 year old demographic.

The reasons are obvious. If you're walking through the mall, you start off by going into every store to look at every deal, but after an hour, you start to only go into stores you think may have something of interest. Now imagine walking through one store while on your mobile phone comparison shopping the same items from other stores. It cuts down on time and keeps you from feeling like you have to settle for an item because you don't know where you might find it later. So for the many consumers going this route during the holiday shopping season, keep your eyes out for the good deals and make sure to use www.bbb.org for the businesses you can trust, especially if you have an iPhone.

Consumers who bank with Chase need to be aware of a recent Phishing scam e-mail making its rounds through cyberspace.  A version has been detected with the subject "Chase Bank: notice to all customers" and the following message which we will display as an image below...


This email has been confirmed to not be from Chase Bank and consumers who recieve this e-mail should not clink of the links. It should be deleted immediately, as it may be a Phishing scam and attept to collect private information from your computer. Thanks to the BBB serving Southern Arizona for their help in identifying this potential threat to personal information.

Every parent knows their kid will someday be a big star in one way or another. Lets face it, everyone has a special talent that allows them to be successful. Unfortunately our office has received quite a few inquiries lately from parents who took their children to an "audition" in hopes of having them break into show business only to get ripped off instead. The companies claim that only a small percentage of auditions will receive a call back, but BBB is learning a good amount actually do receive a phone call recommending anything from acting and modeling classes to a trip to Orlando to participate in more auditions. Any money sent to the company results in nothing for the child.

It's important to not get carried away with these offers and rush into signing a check before checking out the company with BBB or the Attorney General. Be sure to call the company and double check to make sure they are indeed looking for auditions at the day and time you have seen advertised and ask for a list of clients they currently have. Verify this information for yourself to make sure you keep an open mind because most talent agencies are extremely picking on who they represent and will not usually rush someone to pay a large sum of money up front after 1 meeting.