| Volume 130 Number 10 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
As more and more consumers are shopping with mobile apps, fraudsters are following the money. There are fake phone apps popping up that impersonate well-known retailers in order to steal your personal information. Their names are similar to well-known brands, and their descriptions promise enticing deals or features. But these fraudulent apps can take your credit card or bank information. For information about recognizing and avoiding fake apps Click here for more.
BBB Releases Top Consumer Scams of 2016
The Better Business Bureau, the national watchdog nonprofit, released its annual list of top scams for 2016. The rankings are based on more than 30,000 reports made to the BBB this year. Con artists posing as IRS agents in order to collect fake tax debts to callers was the top scam. Fake debt collection claims and phony announcements of sweepstakes wins, prizes or gifts maintained their hold on the next two spots in the scam ranking for the second consecutive year. Click here for more.
Your Money
Is there a charity you truly care about? Planned strategically, a gift to that charity can pay off in more ways than one, extending all the way to your tax bill. You can deduct contributions you make to charitable organizations against your income tax, so long as you itemize your deductions. You’re generally allowed to deduct up to 50% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) in a given tax year. If your contributions surpass the 50% AGI limit, the IRS will allow you to carry over and use the excess amount for up to five years. Keep good records of your donations. Your charitable contribution can also take form in donated clothing to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Purchaser of EFT card is not a consumer under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. A federal district court in Texas considered whether Plaintiff, who did not borrow money, but rather paid a small fee in order to use her money in a different format — namely on a plastic EFT card as opposed to a direct cash transaction — had acquired a good or service, as defined in the DTPA. The court held that, “When viewed through this lens, it is clear that Hopkins' goal in purchasing the MoneyPak cards was not to acquire a particular service, but merely to convert her money to a different format.” Therefore, the Plaintiff was not a consumer as defined by the DTPA. Hopkins v. Green Dot Corp., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112799 (W.D. Tex.). Click here for more.