Analysis Topic: Consumer Watch
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, December 06, 2012
Sophisticated Smartphone Hacking: 36 Million Euros Banking Theft / ConsumerWatch / Scams
By: DK_Matai
A sophisticated digital attack involving smart mobile phones has been used to steal 36 million euros or 47 million dollars from corporate and private banking customers across Europe. The attack appears to have emanated from cybercrime servers in the Ukraine. Android and Blackberry mobile devices have been specifically targeted, showing that attacks against Android devices are now a growing trend. A new customised version of the Trojan spyware application "Zeus" called "ZITMO" or "Zeus-In-The-MObile" has been deployed, which security companies have called Eurograbber. This enables a two-stage Trojan virus attack to progress that spreads from a victim’s Personal Computer or PC to their mobile telephone. Eurograbber marks the first such case of PC-to-mobile Trojan malware targeted specifically at online banking. More than 30,000 online banking customers in Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands have been affected by this attack.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Payday Loans the Next Ponzi Subprime Debt Bubble to Implode? / ConsumerWatch / Debt & Loans
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Office of Fair Trading some several years behind the curve has finally announced an investigation into the aggressive debt collection practices of the largely unregulated payday loans industry that has mushroomed over the past 4 years to stand at over 240 providers, all competing against one another to increasingly lend money to those that cannot afford to repay the loans in what appears to be a classic Ponzi scheme-esk structure where loans are usually given to individuals without any background checks that are increasingly for the purpose of repaying loans taken out from other payday lenders, and then again and again which means that payday lenders are effectively paying one another resulting in what is a growing Ponzi pyramid primed for collapse.
Friday, November 09, 2012
The Dirty Little Secret Behind Wal-Mart's Bluebird Cards / ConsumerWatch / Debt & Loans
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:
Here's something else that's got the potential to undermine our financial future...
It's about those prepaid cards, and the games that are being played with them that you may not know about.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, August 04, 2012
Lessons From the Full Tilt Ponzi / ConsumerWatch / Scams
By: Ashvin_Pandurangi
In the midst of the Eurozone crisis and corporate bankruptcy scandals such as MF Global last year, a smaller-scale yet meaningful scandal went relatively unnoticed. This scandal erupted on what poker players now call "Black Friday" - April 15, 2011. That was the day when U.S. federal authorities unsealed indictments, seized the domains and assets of the three most popular online poker sites - Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and the Cereus network (Absolute Poker) - and arrested the owners. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. poker players were locked out of their online accounts and separated from their funds.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Boots Opticians Having Problems Digesting D&A? Discount Voucher and Review / ConsumerWatch / Healthcare Sector
By: N_Walayat
Following my recent vision problem for some 15 minutes whilst at Manchester Airport, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and visit my local GP (ecclesall medical centre). Whilst my expectations were already low, they still managed to disappoint, seems like the reception staff are trained to so their best to obstruct patients, but that's for another article, the long and short of it was I had to go and see an optician (at my own expense) with a scrap of paper from the Doc to determine if there was a problem with my eyes or not.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Furniture123 Customer Review - Bargain Home Furniture or Potential Nightmare? / ConsumerWatch / Shopping
By: N_Walayat
The UK based online furniture store, Furniture123.com / Furniture123.co.uk purports to "make our customer's lives easy (as easy as 123!)", however the sales pitch may not live up to real customer experience:
For example I ordered a Basel Oak Dining Table from Furniture123 on 8th of Feb 2012, the first warning bell rang when the company failed to send an email acknowledging the order and delivery.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
My Horrific Experiences With Sony Customer Support, Laptop Product Service Review / ConsumerWatch / Resources & Reviews
By: Mike_Shedlock
My Horrific EI have a Sony laptop computer. It is less than a year old. It was not cheap. I bought the best components, memory and hardware components options available including 3-year in home support.
A couple of months ago the monitor developed a problem (a line of dead pixels down the entire length of the screen). I knew it was a hardware failure because I run a dual monitor setup and the line did not appear on the second screen.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Aussie Dollar and Euro Under Pressure / ConsumerWatch / Forex Trading
By: Bari_Baig
Rains might have only fallen in Australia but Aussie Dollar and Euro both are feeling the pressure: rains might have stopped but to put a finger on to the extent of damage these rains have done is far from within sight. Brisbane got few inches of rain even now and few areas were given evacuation warnings nevertheless, as a whole the worst seems to have past now. The Aussie Dollar which only on the last day of 2010 posted the highest high ever recorded has been hit as badly as the floods have hit Queensland. We wrote in our Jan 4th newsletter that
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Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Cadmium Curse of Coca-Cola / ConsumerWatch / Corporate News
By: Pravda
Coca-Cola is withdrawing 22,000 collectible glasses from the US market. The paint, which the world's larges producer of soft drinks used for its glasses, contained toxic cadmium. The concentration of the cancerous substance is very insignificant; it does not pose any danger to consumers, company officials claim.
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Buyers Warning on O2 HTC HD7, HD3 Windows 7 Smartphone's / ConsumerWatch / Technology
By: Nadeem_Walayat
UK smartphone users have been eagerly awaiting to switch to the updated Windows Smartphone platform following the release of Microsoft's Windows 7 mobile O/S on 21st October, which had been accompanied by the announcement of HTC updating the the HD2 handset to HD3, which as the below spec's illustrates implied a quantum leap from the HD2 to the HD3.
Friday, November 12, 2010
British Gas (Centrica) Making Monopoly Rip off Profits with New Energy Price Hikes / ConsumerWatch / Household Bills
By: Nadeem_Walayat
British Gas (owned by Centrica) paid propagandists have been busy making appearances on the mainstream broadcast media with misinformation to try and persuade its 9 million retail gas and electricity customers that the announced price hike of 7% from 10th December is justified, when the facts are that British Gas is ripping off its customers by making near monopoly profits as evidenced by a 98% rise in gas profits for the first half of 2010 to £585 million.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Notebooks overtake Desktops / ConsumerWatch / Technology
By: Pravda
There is a new trend in computer Sales. Whereas in 2004, Sales of notebooks (laptops) represented around ten per cent of the sales of desktops, in 2011, they are expected to sell ten times more. The reason? Consumer trends and changes in behaviour, alongside more attractive prices.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010
OFT Warns 92% of Debt Management Firms Breaking Credit Law / ConsumerWatch / Debt & Loans
By: Submissions
The OFT has told 129 debt management firms that they face losing their consumer credit licences unless immediate action is taken to comply with its Debt Management Guidance.
The firms are required to provide independently audited evidence within three months that action has been taken to address identified concerns. If evidence is not provided, the OFT will instigate licensing action.
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Sunday, August 22, 2010
Secure Websites Are All a Lie / ConsumerWatch / Technology
By: Shelby_H_Moore
There is no such thing as a secure website, and everything you've been led to believe about web security is a lie. And your free speech is threatened, amongst other serious ramifications. Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Poll Shows 7 in 10 Demand Lending Interest Rate Cap To Cover All Forms of Credit / ConsumerWatch / Credit Cards & Scoring
By: Submissions
A new poll has found overwhelming public support for stricter limits on the cost of consumer credit.The poll, commissioned by Compass and Trident Reach from YouGov, found that 68% of respondents thought the government should introduce a lending rate cap to cover all forms of consumer credit, including unsecured credit.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Pay Day Loan Shark Outfits Hook £1.2 Billion to the Financially Illiterate / ConsumerWatch / Debt & Loans
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Consumer Focus reports that over a million UK borrowers have been forced to take out more than £1.2 billion from Pay Day loan outfits as high street banks refuse to lend, up more than 40% on the preceding year. Pay Day loans typically charge customers APR's of over 2,000% and are targeting those desperate for short-term credit which usually means the financially illiterate.
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Greater Transparency and Control of Credit and Store Cards Needed / ConsumerWatch / Credit Cards & Scoring
By: MoneyFacts
Moneyfacts.co.uk has delivered its response to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ consultation paper on ‘A better deal for consumers’ on credit and store cards.
Samantha Owens, Principal Consultant – Banking and Economic Insight at Moneyfacts.co.uk, commented: “Credit cards form an integral part of the financial services industry and allow customers to transact with convenience, reassurance of safety and added consumer protection.
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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Go Go Hamster Buying Spree and Christmas Shopping Scams 2009, Emails Alert / ConsumerWatch / Scams
By: Nadeem_Walayat
With Christmas 15 days away shoppers need to be on guard against scammers taking advantage of the rush to buy, especially during the final week in the run up to Christmas.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Supreme Court Sides with Banksters on Overdraft Bank Charges / ConsumerWatch / UK Banking
By: MoneyFacts
Michelle Slade, spokesperson for Moneyfacts.co.uk comments: “The shock decision by the Supreme Court is going to leave some consumers even more disillusioned with banks.
“Consumers have seen billions of pounds pumped into a number of banks, but many feel they have seen little benefit.
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Friday, September 18, 2009
Should Energy Companies Ripping off Customers be Nationalised? / ConsumerWatch / Household Bills
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Ofgem, Britains' toothless energy regulator announced today what customers already knew that Britians' six main energy suppliers (British Gas, E.ON, Scottish Power, Scottish & Southern Energy, EDF Energy) are ripping off their customers to the tune of more than £170 each per annum. In the face of a 75% fall in the whole gas price energy suppliers have raised prices by 20% on a year earlier, this is AFTER a 35% price hike during mid 2008. The industry representatives have publically replied that they may even raise energy prices further despite the fact that average wholesale prices for power has halved over the past 12 months which is reflected in projected profits for the sector of £4 billion over the next 12 months.