CFPB Orders Wells Fargo to Pay $3.7 Billion for Widespread Mismanagement of Auto Loans, Mortgages, and Deposit Accounts

 Why would anyone continue to do business with Wells Fargo? They have a LONG history of abusing consumers! The highest level of management has repeatedly forced their employees to take advantage of consumers resulting in appalling situations... repeatedly... time and time again.

If you are a Wells Fargo customer, the #1 item on your to-do list is to find a financial institution that will treat you as a valued customer rather than a schmuck to take advantage of. Most consumers can join a Credit Union which is consumer owned rather than a bank that is beholden to stockholders.

"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is ordering Wells Fargo Bank to pay more than $2 billion in redress to consumers and a $1.7 billion civil penalty for legal violations across several of its largest product lines. The bank’s illegal conduct led to billions of dollars in financial harm to its customers and, for thousands of customers, the loss of their vehicles and homes."

"Consumers were illegally assessed fees and interest charges on auto and mortgage loans, had their cars wrongly repossessed, and had payments to auto and mortgage loans misapplied by the bank. Wells Fargo also charged consumers unlawful surprise overdraft fees and applied other incorrect charges to checking and savings accounts. Under the terms of the order, Wells Fargo will pay redress to the over 16 million affected consumer accounts, and pay a $1.7 billion fine, which will go to the CFPB's Civil Penalty Fund, where it will be used to provide relief to victims of consumer financial law violations."

Pay attention to the REAL news, not Tik Tok or Facebook or YouTube. Check out this story from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/20/1144495984/wells-fargo-to-pay-3-7-billion-over-mistreatment-of-its-customers

How to Avoid Predatory Lending

 Everyone thinks they are too smart to be taken advantage of but the history of lending in the United states is replete with scams and semi-legal methods that take advantage of consumers needing to borrow. 

"Even when credit risk is controlled, Blacks were 3.9 times more likely than whites to receive subprime loans, while Latinos were 2.6 times more likely."

"Knowing what’s a good deal and what’s not with personal loans is challenging. Predatory lending takes advantage of this by offering tempting deals that wind up being too good to be true. So it’s essential to know what to look for to avoid becoming a victim."

"This guide will provide you with practical tips for avoiding predatory lenders and advice to protect yourself from their various schemes."

Deed Street Capital offers a simple online guide to help consumers avoid predatory lenders. The guide includes the following topics: 

• How to spot predatory lenders
• The various types of predatory lending
• How to fight back against predatory lending practices

 Check out the guide at: https://deedstreetcapital.com/avoiding-predatory-lending/

Help Ukraine but don't get scammed

 Michelle Singletary, Washington Post financial journalist, warns:

Fraudsters will use Russia’s invasion, declining stock values and spiking oil prices to come after your money

"You see images from Ukraine and feel compassion and the need to give what you can to help civilians fleeing to safety. Con artists see the Russian invasion as a way to use your generosity against you."

Stock market indexes are down, and you worry your investment account won’t return what you need to live a financially peaceful retirement."

"Not to worry. Criminal enterprises are ready to persuade you that they have a guaranteed way for you to invest and earn big money without any risk."

Rising inflation makes con artists jump for joy because they know frightened investors are more likely to fall for scams involving gold, cryptocurrencies, foreign currencies or fake investment opportunities."

If you want to help Ukrainians, take the time to check out a charitable appeal.

Here’s how Americans can donate to help people in Ukraine

To avoid a scam using the conflict in Ukraine or any other current event, start with the premise that every direct message, link, email or text is fake and work from there. This should be your default response to any contact you did not initiate.

Trust nothing. Verify everything.

Paranoia is your protection from losing your hard-earned money.

 

Trump Steered Supporters Into Unwitting Donations

"Online donors were guided into weekly recurring contributions. Demands for refunds spiked. Complaints to banks and credit card companies soared. But the money helped keep Donald Trump’s struggling campaign afloat." Writing for the New York Times, Shane Goldmacher revealed how an "intentional scheme to boost revenues by the Trump campaign and the for-profit company that processed its online donations, WinRed. Facing a cash crunch and getting badly outspent by the Democrats, the campaign had begun last September to set up recurring donations by default for online donors, for every week until the election."

"The tactic ensnared scores of unsuspecting Trump loyalists — retirees, military veterans, nurses and even experienced political operatives. Soon, banks and credit card companies were inundated with fraud complaints from the president’s own supporters about donations they had not intended to make, sometimes for thousands of dollars."

"The recurring donations swelled Mr. Trump’s treasury in September and October, just as his finances were deteriorating. He was then able to use tens of millions of dollars he raised after the election, under the guise of fighting his unfounded fraud claims, to help cover the refunds he owed."

The solicitations included small pre-checked boxes that most donors did not realize set them up for monthly or weekly, rather than one-time donations. This wasn't the first time that the trump campaign used gimmicks to fuel their fund raising. 

Were you or your parents a victim of Trump's fraud? If you are monitoring or managing your parents' finances it would be prudent to check if they had multiple contributions charged to their credit cards or from their bank accounts.   

Get the sordid details at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/03/us/politics/trump-donations.html?referringSource=articleShare

Top 1% of U.S. income earners are avoiding paying taxes

Tax avoidance by the top 1% is far worse than previously estimated by the IRS. Richard Rubin, writing for the 3/22/21 Wall Street Journal, reported that the top 1% fail to report (and pay taxes on) about 21% of their income. "For the top 0.1%, unreported income may be nearly twice as large as conventional IRS methodologies would suggest." Researcher Daniel Reck of the London School of Economics (in a U.S.  National Bureau of Economics paper) reports that tax avoidance by the ultra wealthy is getting worse due to more sophisticated schemes. 

"IRS audit rates and enforcement staffing have declined steadily for a decade amid budget cuts. President Biden and other Democrats have proposed reversing that trend with a significant expansion of the U.S. tax Agency."

‘Fast Fraud’ Surges on Payment Apps

 The latest news on consumer fraud from The New York Times:

"In the pandemic, people have flocked to instant payment apps like Cash App, PayPal’s Venmo and Zelle as they have wanted to avoid retail bank branches and online commerce has become more ingrained. To encourage that shift, the payment apps have added services like debit cards and routing numbers so that they work more like traditional banks."

"But many people are unaware of how vulnerable they can be to losses when they use these services in place of banks. Payment apps have long had fraud rates that are three to four times higher than traditional payment methods such as credit and debit cards."

The apps are so easy to use... for fraudsters as well as consumers.  and because transactions are instantaneous there is less time to identify fraudulent transactions.

Fraud problems are especially common for users of Square’s Cash App.

Thanks to writer Nathaniel Popper 10/11/20.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/11/technology/fraud-payment-apps.html

 

How to Notice, Avoid and Report Fake Check Scams

"We may live in a digital world but old-fashioned paper cheques are still in use, and, for the scammers, they present an opportunity to steal your money"

"Of the many scams that are prevalent in today’s society, fake cheque scams target consumers of all ages, and worryingly, they’re on the rise."

"In this guide, we’ll provide you with the latest information on how to spot, avoid and report fake cheque scams to help you get one up on the scammers."

Check it out:  https://www.businessexpert.co.uk/fake-cheque-scams/

 

Protect yourself from growing credit card fraud

"Even if you’re careful, your credit card information will probably be stolen at some point. And we’re mostly on our own to protect ourselves" explains Shira Ovid, writing for The New York Times On Tech newsletter.

What you need to do: 

Sign up for email or phone alerts for each transaction.

Limit or eliminate the websites where you save card information. Instead use PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay or similar options that generate a temporary account number for each transaction.

Be paranoid: "Every link in an email or a too-good-to-be-true deal on an unfamiliar website could be trying to trick you to harvest credit card details or other personal information."

Report the fraudulent charge: "Tell both your credit card company and the merchant where the bogus charge was made to prevent the thief from running more stolen credit cards."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/technology/how-to-reduce-credit-card-fraud.html?campaign_id=12&emc=edit_my_20200615&instance_id=19407&nl=your-money&regi_id=83720664&segment_id=30960&te=1&user_id=bde4c6c63beab087f13b761e1ee9fe1e

Marriott-Starwood data theft

Here we go again... another data breech. Even if you haven't stayed at an affected property recently, check out this info on ID theft and how to protect yourself. Below is quoted directly from Starwood:


We remind you it is always advisable to be vigilant for incidents of fraud or identity theft by reviewing your account statements and free credit reports for any unauthorized activity. You may obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. To order your annual free credit report, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228. Contact information for the three nationwide credit reporting companies is as follows:

Equifax, PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374, www.equifax.com, 1-800-685-1111 Experian, PO Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013, www.experian.com, 1-888-397-3742 TransUnion, PO Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016, www.transunion.com, 1-800-916-8800

If you believe you are the victim of identity theft or have reason to believe your personal information has been misused, you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission and/or the Attorney General’s office in your state. You can obtain information from these sources about steps an individual can take to avoid identity theft as well as information about fraud alerts and security freezes. You should also contact your local law enforcement authorities and file a police report. Obtain a copy of the police report in case you are asked to provide copies to creditors to correct your records. Contact information for the Federal Trade Commission is as follows:

Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580, 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338), www.ftc.gov/idtheft

If you are a resident of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, or Rhode Island, you may contact and obtain information from your state attorney general at:

Connecticut Attorney General's Office, 55 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106, www.ct.gov/ag, 1-860-808-5318 Maryland Attorney General's Office, 200 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD 21202, www.oag.state.md.us, 1-888-743-0023 or 1-410-576-6300 Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, One Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108, www.mass.gov/ago/contact-us.html, 1-617-727-8400 North Carolina Attorney General's Office, 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699, www.ncdoj.gov, 1-919-716-6400 or 1-877-566-7226 Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, 150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903, www.riag.ri.gov, 1-401-274-4400

If you are a resident of Massachusetts or Rhode Island, note that pursuant to Massachusetts or Rhode Island law, you have the right to file and obtain a copy of a police report. You also have the right to request a security freeze.

If you are a resident of West Virginia, you have the right to ask that nationwide consumer reporting agencies place “fraud alerts” in your file to let potential creditors and others know that you may be a victim of identity theft, as described below. You also have a right to place a security freeze on your credit report, as described below.

Fraud Alerts: There are two types of fraud alerts you can place on your credit report to put your creditors on notice that you may be a victim of fraud—an initial alert and an extended alert. You may ask that an initial fraud alert be placed on your credit report if you suspect you have been, or are about to be, a victim of identity theft. An initial fraud alert stays on your credit report for at least 90 days. You may have an extended alert placed on your credit report if you have already been a victim of identity theft with the appropriate documentary proof. An extended fraud alert stays on your credit report for seven years. You can place a fraud alert on your credit report by contacting any of the three national credit reporting agencies.

Credit Freezes: You have the right to put a credit freeze, also known as a security freeze, on your credit file, free of charge, so that no new credit can be opened in your name without the use of a PIN number that is issued to you when you initiate a freeze. A security freeze is designed to prevent potential credit grantors from accessing your credit report without your consent. If you place a security freeze, potential creditors and other third parties will not be able to get access to your credit report unless you temporarily lift the freeze. Therefore, using a security freeze may delay your ability to obtain credit. There is no fee to place or lift a security freeze. Unlike a fraud alert, you must separately place a security freeze on your credit file at each credit reporting company. For information and instructions to place a security freeze, contact each of the credit reporting agencies at the addresses below:

Experian Security Freeze, PO Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013, www.experian.com TransUnion Security Freeze, PO Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016, www.transunion.com Equifax Security Freeze, PO Box 105788, Atlanta, GA 30348, www.equifax.com

We remind you it is always advisable to be vigilant for incidents of fraud or identity theft by reviewing your account statements and free credit reports for any unauthorized activity. You may obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. To order your annual free credit report, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228. Contact information for the three nationwide credit reporting companies is as follows:

Smishing... a variation on phishing

"Smishing" is an attempt by cybercriminals to get personal information and to steal identities through text messaging. Learn about common scams and how to protect against them.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month

"Smishing is yet another tool used by cybercriminals to obtain personal information and steal identities. You’ve probably heard of ‘phishing,’ which is an attempt to get people to provide sensitive information via email, like credit card numbers or passwords. Smishing is a mashup of SMS (short message service) and phishing. Basically, it’s phishing via text."
Thanks to: Samantha Delgado, Communications, PR & Corporate Responsibility, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
Get the details at http://blog.aicpa.org/2018/10/smishing-what-you-need-to-know.html#sthash.q6I8AByU.dpbs

Avoid "Retire Rich" sales pitches

Kim Blanton write for The Squared Away Blog (one of my favorite resources):
"Many Americans approach retirement planning with dread – hardly surprising, given that only about half of working-age adults are on track to have sufficient savings to retire in the lifestyle they’ve grown accustomed to while working.

But there purports to be an easier way – and it’s on YouTube. Googling “retirement” turns up all kinds of outlandish promises of nirvana for regular folks.  Examples of YouTube titles are: “Retire Young. Retire Rich.” “Guaranteed Ways to Retire Rich.” “How to Retire in 10 Years – Much Easier Than You Think.” You get the picture.

Don’t be fooled. In a 401(k) world, what workers need is determination, planning, and persistence to ensure they’ll be prepared for old age.  YouTube offers only magic bullets."

Read more on Kim 's blog post: http://squaredawayblog.bc.edu/squared-away/retire-rich-dont-believe-this-sales-pitch/

Full loan relief denied defrauded college students

"Under Betsy DeVos, students swindled by for-profit schools are compensated based on their earnings after the program."

By Maria Danilova, The Associated Press (reported in The Salt Lake Tribune, 9/8/18)

"The Trump administration is granting only partial loan forgiveness to the vast majority of students approved for help because of fraud by for-profit colleges, according to preliminary Education Department data..."

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ new policy of partial relief denies full compensation to students swindled by for-profit schools

"Of the roughly 16,000 fraud claims approved thus far by the Education Department under DeVos, slightly more than 1,000 students received full forgiveness on their loans, according to an AP analysis of the data."

"DeVos has been pushing to ease regulations for the for-profit sector and raise the bar for students seeking relief for fraud. Critics say DeVos, who has hired officials from the for-profit sector to top positions in her agency, is favoring industry interests."