One on one with Ralph Nader
Posted: Friday, March 28 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
(VIDEO: Click to a watch msnbc.com's interview with Ralph Nader)
He calls Washington, D.C., "corporate occupied territory," and says we’re living under "corporate fascism." Ralph Nader continues to pound away at the same themes he did in the 1960s when he first took on the automobile industry, alleging intentional neglect of safety measures. Today, though, he has broadened his targets to include banks, credit card companies, binding arbitration clauses and, of course, his rival presidential candidates.
While he's universally regarded, and even revered, as the father of the consumer movement, Nader’s presidential campaigns are roundly criticized by liberals as counterproductive, and even destructive. As part of Red Tape Chronicles’ look at the consumer protection proposals of the presidential candidates, Nader agreed to sit down with me this week in Washington, D.C.
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Where candidates stand on consumer issues
Posted: Tuesday, March 25 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
With worries about the economy and the war in Iraq dominating campaign debates and speeches, there hasn't been much discussion about consumer protection issues. That might not sit well with Red Tape readers, who complain constantly about bank fees, credit card policies, misbehaving cell phone firms and even unsafe toys.
But Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and, to a lesser extent, John McCain all have staked out positions on these vital issues.
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Data voyeurism is common
Posted: Friday, March 21 at 02:13 pm CT by Bob Sullivan
If you think the State Department passport privacy debacle is an oddity, it isn’t. Data voyeurism is actually a sign of the times. Low-level employees at government agencies and private companies browse personal information for sport all the time. Outside of the occasional public flogging, little has been done to stop this unnerving practice.
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Credit scores 102: A crisis, and some changes
Posted: Tuesday, March 18 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Having taken a look at what credit scores are -- and what they aren't – in Friday’s column, we’re ready to look at how they came to be used for purposes for which they were never intended and how they gave birth to a cottage industry aimed at manipulating them.
You might be surprised to learn that even the people who invented credit scores say their use has gotten out of hand. And if lenders learn a simple lesson – that they should rely a little less on a number and a little more on interpersonal skills when making loans -- the current credit crisis might have a silver lining.
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How refreshing: Retailer admits data theft
Posted: Monday, March 17 at 04:34 pm CT by Bob Sullivan
It was good to see the Hannaford Bros. grocery chain step forward Monday and admit it was the retailer that had suffered a credit card and debit card hacker attack. Criminals had access to account numbers from Dec. 7 to March 10, and stole a whopping 4.2 million credit and debit card numbers while they were transmitted for authorization, the company said. (see full story)
The company's announcement came only hours after the Massachusetts Bankers Association issued a statement indicating that it had been warned about a leak at a "major retailer" by Visa and MasterCard, while complaining that the credit card associations wouldn't reveal the name of the store chain. An initial version of this column offered the same lament.
The card associations routinely keep such information a secret, and banks are getting tired of that. You should be, too
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Credit scores 101: What they are -- and aren’t
Posted: Friday, March 14 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
If American consumers feel like they are back in school again, angling for a few more points and good grade, that’s no accident. The aggressive marketing of three-digit credit scores has practically turned a high figure into a status symbol – but it’s so much more than that.
Unlike that English 101 quiz, this grade can have a direct and severe impact on your everyday life. Credit scores now affect everything from car loans and mortgages to credit cards to auto insurance.
With the current credit crunch, scoring formulas are getting more scrutiny. Some lenders are even blaming the credit scores for the lending mess that is dragging the U.S. economy toward or into a recession.
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Hit by ID theft, then plagued by Sprint
Posted: Friday, March 7 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
You might call it a friends, family and ID thieves plan.
Last year, identity thieves wormed their way into Michael Carner’s Sprint account, tacked on 14 new cell phones and began ringing up phone charges. Even though he reported the intrusion, things only got worse. For nearly a year, the real estate agent was hit with late fees, frequent automated collections calls, service interruptions, and a $5,000 bill.
When Carner finally gave up and tried to cancel his account, Sprint had one more piece of bad news: The imposters had extended his service contract for two years, meaning he'd have to pay a $200 early termination fee to get out of his contract.
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Banks flout federal laws on fees, GAO says
Posted: Tuesday, March 4 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
If bank fees are a mystery to you, you're not alone. Government investigators dispatched by Congress last year to find fee schedules at banks around the country came back empty-handed 22 percent of the time. And at one-third of the banks, information on overdraft fees and procedures was nowhere to be found.
The Government Accountability Office study, which was released Monday, concluded that consumers lack the most basic information to "comparison shop" when selecting banks.
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