How many out there know that Montgomery Ward went out of business in 2001? Now, how many know that a catalog company bought the Wards name brand out of bankruptcy in 2004? If you did, I'm awarding quality points to you. Bravo.

Now here's the bad news for anyone doing business with Wards.com and six other affiliated sites that includes three Sears brands (SearsHomeCenter.com, SearsShowplace.com and SearsRoomforKids.com). At least 51,000 records were breached at the parent company of those brands, Direct Marketing Services Inc.

Someone hacked into and stole consumer credit card information, according to DMSI, which informed its payment processor and Visa and MasterCard, and filed a report to the U.S. Secret Service.

Continue reading "Direct Marketing Services doesn't tell consumers about data breach" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Please please please verify IDs before you let anyone into your home or open the door to anyone asking to enter your home.

If you missed this little blurb yesterday, the Associated Press reported that three men posing as utility workers entered a home in Westminster yesterday and stole money and other items.

Maryland State Police said it occurred about 12:30 p.m. The men, who kept in contact with one another with portable radios, diverted the victims' attention to steal from them. Police said the men then fled in a minivan onto Route 140.

It's happening more and more. Baltimore County Police issued a warning on similar deception scams running in their jurisdiction recently.

Continue reading "Scam Watch: Thieves posing as utility workers" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The pen manager who oversaw some of the worst documented abuses of downed animals in the Hallmark Meat Company case pled guilty today to two counts of felony animal cruelty and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to downed animals.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos charged Daniel Navarro with animal cruelty, which was uncovered by in an investigation by The Humane Society of the United States.

HSUS says that Hallmark principally slaughtered “spent” dairy cows for the Westland Meat Co., which was the nation’s No. 2 supplier of ground beef for the National School Lunch Program.

The HSUS investigation found that many of the animals were unable to stand and walk. An HSUS investigator filmed slaughter plant employees routinely beating cows to try to make them rise. Cows were repeatedly shocked in the face and eyes with electric prods, and even rammed with the blades of a forklift.

The mistreatment occurred just long enough to make the animals get up on their feet to be slaughtered — this, HSUS says, despite the known risks that such animals may be harboring foodborne pathogens such as E. coli 0157:H7 and Salmonella, or even infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or “mad cow disease”).

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Remember when we told you that the Humane Society of the United States found downer cows at auctions in Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Texas?

And then we told you that the Westminster Livestock Auction Market owner, James Horak, was charged with four counts of violating State Animal Health regulations?

Yesterday, the Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Roger Richardson said in response to those charges, Horak signed a consent agreement regarding violations of the Maryland Animal Health law at the auction on April 22 and 23.

“A very deliberate investigation has revealed that a ‘downer’ cow was not treated in a humane manner and the market was not prepared to handle downer animals that night,” said Agriculture Secretary Roger Richardson. “Under the terms of the consent agreement, Mr. Horak, while not admitting guilt, is not contesting the charges filed against him and has agreed to a number of actions to assure that animals in his custody will be treated humanely and in accordance with State law. Even before signing the agreement, Mr. Horak already had instituted a number of these actions.”

Continue reading "NBotW Update: Westminster Livestock Auction Operator Signs Consent Agreement" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

We've told you about shrinking ice cream containers and peanut butter jars --- even though the prices for these items remain the same. Websites like Mouseprint and Consumerist exist just to chronicle such attempts by businesses to get more of our money. And the latest product to get this treatment? Pints of beer, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But how can a beverage dispensed in a standard unit of measurement decrease in size?

You might think it's just the natural variation in the way humans pour a beer, but no. Some bars and restaurants have been serving the drinks in glasses with thicker bottoms, holding only 14 ounces compared to the traditional American 16-ounce pint (in the U.K, pints are about 19 ounces). According to the article, some bartenders comically describe these vessels as falsies.  

The article mentions a couple of chain restaurants that practice this, including some Romano's Macaroni Grill locations. Here are some others:

Continue reading "Less beer, same price" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 6:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

You say toMAYto, I say toMAHto... Either way, they're still yummy and a staple of my diet. Problem is, I was out grocery shopping on Sunday at the Shopper's Food on Eastern Avenue and searched high and low for some juicy red tomatoes. To my great disappointment, there wasn't a single tomato in the entire store. WTH? (er... that's the PG-version of WTF).

Now, don't scold me for not knowing about this sooner. I've already told you I don't go food shopping often. Also, on weekends, I will occasionally enforce a news blackout just so I can relax (hey, if you were a mathematician, you wouldn't want to solve math equations all weekend, would you?).

Anyhow, that's my sorry excuse for missing the fact that over the weekend, the Food and Drug Administration expanded its nationwide warning that a salmonellosis outbreak has been linked to consumption of certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, and products containing these raw, red tomatoes.

The FDA recommends that consumers not eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of raw red tomatoes unless the tomatoes are from the sources listed below. If you're not sure where the tomatoes are grown or harvested, you should contact the store where the tomato purchase was made.

You can still eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, or tomatoes grown at home, the FDA says.

Continue reading "Tomato Warning from FDA" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The Hispanic Institute applauded the Federal Trade Commission's recent move to halt sales of fraudulent phone cards distributed by several major calling card companies.

THI President Gus West says, "Hispanics have been an unwitting target for unscrupulous calling-card firms. We at the Hispanic Institute applaud the FTC for acting on behalf of consumers and call on other leaders to do so as well."

Defendents in the case are: Alternatel, Inc.; G.F.G. Enterprises, LLC, also d/b/a Mystic Prepaid; Voice Prepaid, Inc.; Voice Distributors, Inc.; Telecom Express, Inc.; and their principals.

The FTC said the companies marketed their prepaid calling cards through small retailers such as newsstands, kiosks, grocery and convenience stores, and over the Internet. The cards, which sell for between $2 and $10, are marketed under a wide variety of names, including “Aló Mamá,” “Coffee Time,” “Rey de Florida,” “Tree Monkey,” and “Voz do Brasil.”

Continue reading "Avoid these Prepaid Calling Cards, FTC says" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Tuesday's column focused on the spread of Voice over Internet Protocol phone service, or VoIP as its better known, and the concerns behind relying on a telephone that you might not work when the power goes out or when your Internet service is interrupted.

While the popularity of VoIP has grown, I'm not altogether sure that consumers are aware of the possible drawbacks to using an Internet phone, which the column pointed out that calling emergency services can be problematic. Please remember that if you move your VoIP service, you must change your billing address AND your emergency address with your provider or your 911 call could get directed to the wrong emergency calling center.

Since I haven't tried to sign on for this service myself, I was really interested to hear from Frank Bonomo who told me about what he discovered when he jumped at a triple play offer:

Continue reading "Voice over Internet phone concerns" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

On Sunday, I wrote about BlueHippo and the unending complaints that are still coming in about the Woodlawn-based retailer that sells computers and other electronics to people with poor credit.

Maria Allwine of Baltimore wrote in to say:

How about a story on who owns Blue Hippo and its history. I think publishing the names of the owner(s) and the history, finances, etc. of this company might be helpful.

The bad news is that I didn't include that information because I only have 25 inches of space to work with for my Sunday column. The good news is that The Sun and fellow blogger (a.k.a. Financial Guru) Eileen wrote a terrific story on this very question back in 2006.

But, being the generous, thoughtful soul that I am, I'm going to copy and paste the lengthy article after the jump instead of making you search and pay for it in our archives like my bosses would like for you to do. Why? Because it's all about you readers, that's why.

Continue reading "BlueHippo Blues" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I wrote about credit monitoring services and how they don't fully protect you against identity theft in today's Q&A. If you haven't read it, check it out since we discuss LifeLock, an identity theft protection company whose CEO has been flaunting his Social Security Number all over the place in an attempt to prove to potential customers how safe he feels using his company's services..

Too bad he's had dozens of attempts by various people to steal his identity with at least one person being successful.

In the column, I talk about credit freezes so I just wanted to remind everyone how we've told you before how to request a credit freeze here.

Continue reading "Credit monitoring services can be costly and ineffective" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Have you ever accidentally given someone a $5 when you meant to hand them a $1?

That's what I was thinking about while working on this story about blind people and those with limited vision saying the paper money we now use puts them at a disadvantage. 

I talked to Eric Bridges of the American Council of the Blind about how this affects his life:

"... he has to trust store clerks and others to identify his bills for him. He then folds them in different ways to distinguish different denominations in his wallet.

'We rely upon the kindness of strangers and the truthfulness of strangers to indicate to us what denominations they are handing back to us,' he said."

More than 180 countries incorporate accessibility features into their paper currency, whether it's intentionally or by accident. Some of the accommodations can be as simple as colors to help distinguish different bills (check out a gallery of world money here).

Continue reading "Paper money: unfair to the blind" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 6:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Planning to use that tax rebate money on a little home improvement, like painting the exterior of your home?

You might be surprised by the price of paint. Add it to the growing list of products affected by the skyrocketing costs of petroleum. 

But don't skimp on the paint you purchase for the exterior of your house, or you might spend more money in the long run, sez Consumer Reports.

Continue reading "Save a few bucks: painting your house" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

At the rate we're going, we're probably going to exceed last year's record-setting number of product recalls, sez the Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports.

Thus far, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has had to call back nearly 10 million products in the first quarter of this year due to 121 recalls. If this trend continues, it will mean at least 800 total by year's end --- a 70 percent increase over 2007.

What's so offensive is that some of the products recalled violate laws that have been on the books for years. If manufacturers are flouting existing rules, how can regulators protect us against new threats posed by emerging technology?

Full text of the Consumers Union announcement below the jump: 

Continue reading "Recalls on pace to break last year's record" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

 
Some people love radio-frequency identification technology, also known as RFIDs --- or more accurately, they love what the little antennae-and-chip combos can do: speed through toll lanes, enter their cars without turning a key or pay for a purchase by waving a card rather than swiping it.

Others shun RFID because they don't want to leave electronic tracks in their wake or fear that the methods of encoding data leaves them vulnerable. As more manufacturers and retailers use the tags to automatically follow their inventory from the loading dock onto store shelves, we're bound to encounter more RFID in our day-to-day lives in less-than-visible places.

While this has created a cottage industry for metal-lined wallets, you could take the DIY approach with aluminum foil --- or even an Altoids tin. Some people even go a step farther than experts advise and try to destroy the RFID tags in their credit cards or their passports (check out the directions here and here and here).

But remember: tampering your passport is literally a federal offense, punishable by a jail and fines. And if you're really worried about RFID, it might be easier just to request a tag-free card than to manhandle the one you have.

Don't know whether your card is RFID-enabled in the first place?

Continue reading "RFIDs: love 'em or hate 'em?" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

As promised, here's the undercover video from the Humane Society of the United States on downer cows at auctions in Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Texas.

According to HSUS, the video of the downers was shot in April and May and shared with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer last week at a face-to-face meeting. HSUS said that Schafer pledged to look into the issue.

This video isn't quite as gruesome as the one involving Westland/Hallmark where downer cows were being poked, prodded, pushed and pulled by forklift into pens for slaughter, but it does make you worry about what might be making it into our food supply.

Continue reading "Video of more downer cows in MD & three other states" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

In just a few minutes, the Humane Society of the United States will announce new finding of its next investigation into downer cows that are being mistreated at auctions in Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Texas.

As you'll recall us telling you, HSUS undercover investigators documented earlier this year cows that were too sick or injured to stand or walk -- called "downers" by the industry (see the orginial downers video) -- being kicked, beaten, dragged with chains, shocked with electric prods, sprayed in the face with hoses, and rammed by forklifts in efforts to get them to their feet to pass USDA inspection.

The video led the recall of 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef from California-based Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. That's the largest meat recall in U.S. history -- far surpassing 1999's 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat.

Continue reading "More downer cows making it into our food system?" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Yesterday, the California Assembly passed legislation "requiring airlines to provide passengers with food, water, lights, air and working toilets when they're stuck on airport tarmacs for long periods of time," so says the San Jose Merc News.

The bill passed with a 54-16 vote. It now goes to the California Senate.

A big issue still being argued is whether the state even has the authority to regulate airlines since a very similar law  passed in New York was struck down by an appeals court in March.

At the time, we told you the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier. The court also said that only the feds can pass such a law.

Continue reading "Round 2: Airline Passenger Bill of Rights passes again" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 7:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Data breaches are increasingly making headlines these days, thanks to "breach notification" laws that many states now have on the books.

Here in Maryland, the law requires businesses alert consumers when their personal information --- names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or other identifiers --- has been compromised by a lost backup tape, theft of a laptop or hard drive or the inadvertent posting of a file on a Web site.

Sometimes the breaches arise due to human error or deliberate action, such as the hacking of an online store or the incident at LendingTree.com I wrote about in today's paper. More than 56,000 Maryland consumers got letters from the company stating that former employees shared passwords for LendingTree's consumer database --- loaded with their names, social security  with three mortgage brokerages.

Consumer advocates such as Jeannine Kenney of the Consumers Union have said that such laws even the playing field for businesses because everyone has to 'fess up when there's been a problem. And because the incidents generate negative publicity, it creates incentive for companies to do a better job safeguarding your info.

"The reputational black eye could cost some future business, as well as the financial burden of notification,” she said. 

The identity theft program of the Maryland Attorney General's office now lists on its Web site the businesses that have reported security breaches. Take a look at the 67 incidents since the law took effect in January and click the link above to read copies of the letters the companies sent about the incidents:  

Continue reading "Who's careless with your information?" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

RadioJamaica reported this week that the Consumer Affairs Commission cautioned consumers to be on the look out for a toy labeled "Fart Bomb" that is packaged in aluminum foil.

On Tuesday, more than 30 children of the Bradford Preparatory School in Buff Bay, Portland were hospitalized after a dangerous chemical escaped in a classroom after a child reportedly opened the package. The students experienced vomiting, difficulty breathing and diarrhea as a result of the chemical, RadioJamaica said.

Follow the jump to see the directio