Consumer Alert

The FDIC recently report 10 scams consumers should be aware of this summer. Here are few to be aware of. Jury Duty Scams: A thief makes phone calls pretending to be a law enforcement official warning innocent people that they failed to appear for jury duty and threating an arrest unless a “fine” is paid immediately, the caller asks for debit account and PIN numbers, allowing the perpetrator to create a fake debit card and drain the account. "Ransomware": This term refers to malicious software that holds a computer, smartphone or other device hostage by restricting access until a ransom is paid. The most common way ransomware and other malicious software spreads is when someone clicks on an infected email attachment or a link in an email that leads to a contaminated file or website. Malware also can spread across a network of linked computers or be passed around on a contaminated storage device, such as a thumb drive. Overpayment scams: This popular scam starts when a stranger sends a consumer or a business a check for something, but the check is for far more than the agreed-upon sales price. The scammer then tells the consumer to deposit the check and wire the difference to someone else who is supposedly owed money by the same check writer. In a few days, the check is discovered to be a counterfeit, and the depositor may be held responsible for any money wired out of the bank account. Victims may end up owing thousands of dollars to the financial institution that wired the money. To read the full list and key defenses to remember
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Your Money

4 ways you’re losing money at work (1) Letting vacation time go unused. On average, workers use only 54 percent of their eligible vacation time. A recent report estimated that for the average worker, unused vacation days represents a loss of $604, if you just can’t get away at least look to see if those days can be rolled over, banked or paid out. (2) Not reassessing your market value. Take advantage of tools on career websites such as Glassdoor, LinkedIn and PayScale, which help estimate what your pay will be if you change roles. (3) Missing out on ‘secret’ jobs. About 85 percent of open positions are filled through networking rather than classifieds, so start with people you know and trust, and quietly put it out there that you’re looking. (4) Failing to secure your lunch. Nearly 1 in 5 workers has eaten someone else's lunch out of the office fridge, that’s a double financial drain for the money spent on groceries to make it and the extra cost to replace it. Click here for more.

For the Lawyers

Jury Hits TransUnion With Record $60M FCRA Verdict. A California federal jury found Tuesday that TransUnion violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act when it conflated a class of consumers with similarly named terrorists and criminals from a government watch list, awarding statutory and punitive damages topping $60 million in what the plaintiffs' attorneys called the largest FCRA verdict to date. The 8,185 class members profiled by TransUnion will each get $984 in statutory damages and $6,353 in punitive damages, bringing the total award to $8 million in statutory damages and $52 million in punitive damages. Click here for more.

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