Scam or NOT – Don’t let them Scam You

The FDIC has received numerous reports of a fraudulent e-mail that has the appearance of being sent by the FDIC. 

The subject line of the e-mail states: “Check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage.”  The e-mail tells recipients that “You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insured bank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your account with as a failed bank, thus, taking control of its assets.” 

The e-mail then asks recipients to “Visit the official FDIC website and perform the following steps to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage,” complete with a fake link to the Web site. It then instructs recipients to “Download and open your personal FDIC Insurance File to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage.”

This e-mail and associated Web site are fraudulent. Recipients should consider the intent of this e-mail as an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, some of which may be used to gain unauthorized access to online banking services or to conduct identity theft. 

The FDIC does not issue unsolicited e-mails to consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT follow the link in the fraudulent e-mail.

These and other products making bogus claims to prevent or treat H1N1 flu are flooding the Internet as scam artists prey on the public’s fears while the vaccine is delayed and real Tamiflu is rationed.

Every problem, it would seem, is a sales opportunity. Some of the products appear to have been pitched for other emergencies, such as one called “Quake Kare” and masks and purifiers sold during the SARS scare.

Federal officials have sent warning letters to promoters of more than 140 H1N1 flu-related products, including well-known alternative medicine advocate Dr. Andrew Weil for his “Immune Support Formula.”

Consumer Reports also has warned subscribers to be wary.

“It’s harmful, disappointing, frustrating to see folks take advantage of the public like this,” said Dr. John Santa, who evaluates health claims for Consumer Reports.

Fraudulent products emerged shortly after H1N1 flu did in the spring — about 10 a day, said Alyson Saben, head of a H1N1 flu consumer fraud team formed by the Food and Drug Administration. The pace slowed during the summer as the flu abated, but “it’s picked up” in recent weeks, she said. “We are seeing new sites pop up.”

Most worrisome: sites that claim to sell Tamiflu without a prescription. The FDA bought and tested five such products. One contained powdered talc and generic Tylenol — no Tamiflu. Several others contained some Tamiflu but were not approved for sale in the U.S.

“We have no idea of the conditions under which they were manufactured. They could contain contaminated, counterfeit, impure or subpotent or superpotent ingredients,” Saben said.

Tamiflu and Relenza are the only drugs recommended for treating H1N1 flu.

Rogue Web sites are not the only ones trying to cash in on flu fears. Makers of some well-established products are making claims that might be close to the line, the FDA said.

This week, the makers of Dial Soap, Kleenex, Clorox and other big brands launched a joint promotional campaign costing as much as $1 million. The FDA is reviewing the campaign, which includes a video that says:

“Germs are tiny organisms that can cause disease. According to the CDC, up to 80 percent of infectious diseases, like the flu, are spread by your hands. That’s why frequent, proper handwashing is so important in preventing spread of the flu, other viruses and germs. An antibacterial soap like Dial Complete foaming hand wash kills 99.9 percent of germs.”

Flu is caused by a virus, so killing bacteria is of uncertain benefit.

At the start of the foreclosure crisis, personal-finance experts urged struggling homeowners to contact their lenders if they started to fall behind on their mortgages. The lenders want to do everything they can, homeowners were told, to avoid a foreclosure. 

Now, the experts aren’t so sure that’s the case. 

Consumers who have jumped through a frustrating series of hoops to achieve a mortgage modification – a lower interest rate or more manageable payments – are convinced that conventional wisdom is flawed.  

Jason, of San Diego, said he’s become frustrated trying to complete a loan modification. 

“I have gone through the Aurora Loan modification process but have been denied, although no clear explanation was provided,” Jason told ConsumerAffairs.com. “I have been seeking assistance and guidance from quite a few bank representatives and have only received rude, misguided information.” 

In the last year ConsumerAffairs.com has received hundreds of complaints from consumers who said they followed loan-modification instructions, faxing requested documents repeatedly, only to have their applications disappear into a black hole. 

“I faxed papers repeated times and was told that I need to fax more or that they never received them so they can start a modification,” Maria, of Sussex, N.J., told ConsumerAffairs.com. “I made payments and they never credited my account. Now they call in October 2009 and they tell me that they stopped the modification because I never faxed out the papers. Is this a joke?”

• Bing: Why loan modifications don’t work

Regardless of the loan servicer, the story seems to be the same. Consumers start down a road they think will lead to a modified mortgage, only to meet a wall of incompetence and indifference at the mortgage company.  

“We sent all information requested by certified mail,” Regina, of Whitefish Bay, Wis., told ConsumerAffairs.com. “As the others have described, we have had to make contact. They do not respond. The usual answer is ‘Whoever told you that is wrong.’ I actually have a tape of one of their agents stating, ‘I can’t be responsible for what someone else told you.’ Should they not be required to respond in writing? Is this not a government-funded program?” 

The Treasury Department did, in fact, begin a loan- modification program in March to encourage loan servicers to modify troubled loans to prevent foreclosures. But the process has proved slow, and for many, frustrating. Meanwhile, foreclosures continue unabated. 

A new report by the National Consumer Law Center says it’s no mystery why loan servicers seem to be dragging their feet in modifying troubled mortgages. The report suggests these companies actually stand to profit if the troubled property goes to foreclosure. 

The report, “Why Servicers Foreclose, When They Should Modify, and Other Puzzles of Servicer Behavior,” reveals that servicers, unlike investors or homeowners, generally don’t risk losing money on foreclosures.  

“One common-sense solution to the foreclosure crisis is to modify the loan terms in more instances,” said Diane Thompson, an NCLC attorney and author of the report. “Foreclosures are a costly ordeal for the homeowner, the lender, and the community. Yet they continue to outstrip loan modifications because servicers have no incentive to help borrowers stay in their homes.” 

In almost every case, the loan servicer doesn’t own the loan. It’s simply a company — usually a bank — hired to collect the money from the homeowner and deliver the funds to the investors who own the mortgage. The investors lose money if the property goes to foreclosure, but the servicer doesn’t. 

Homeowners seeking to save their homes by modifying unaffordable loans typically deal with servicers. That is why the financial interests of servicers have the potential to hurt homeowners, the report says.

 And too many of those financial incentives encourage servicers to ignore the interests of homeowners. For example, the report suggests that servicers often deny homeowners principal and interest rate reductions because as servicers they find it profitable to offer repayment plans or forbearance agreements that do little to reduce homeowners’ debt burdens. 

“Loan modifications inevitably cost the servicer something,” the report says. “A servicer deciding between a foreclosure and a loan modification faces the prospect of near certain loss if the loan is modified, and no penalty, but potential profit, if the home is foreclosed.” 

The NCLC report also found that the lack of third-party oversight allows servicers to pursue foreclosure instead of effective loan modifications that would benefit homeowners as well as investors. While credit-rating agencies and bond insurers do monitor servicers, their oversight too often encourages servicers to foreclose. 

The NCLC report includes a detailed examination of loans in foreclosure from 1995-2009 and how components of servicer compensation affected the likelihood and speed of foreclosure. It also looks at the rise of the servicer industry as a byproduct of securitization, and the oversight of servicers by credit-rating agencies and bond insurers.

 ”The people who could change the way servicers are doing business — Congress, the administration, and the Securities and Exchange Commission — and the market participants who set the terms of engagement — credit- rating agencies and bond insurers — have failed to provide servicers with the necessary incentives to reduce foreclosures and increase loan modifications,” Thompson said. 

The report suggests that rule changes remove the financial incentives for servicers to block modifications and mandate loan modifications before a foreclosure as a matter of law. Until it does, the report says, the foreclosure crisis will continue. 

“I feel that I have been set up to lose my house,” Alesea of Kinston, N.C., told ConsumerAffairs.com. “Where is the justice in this?”

What has Obama really done to earn a peace prize? Absolutely nothing, he has won a presidency in the united states and done very little since then but piss off the health care industry and everyone related.

He has not been in office long enough to win this prize. People spend their entire lives working to win this prize and he holds office for less than a year and wins. I guess this goes to the credibility of the Nobel prize. Its very meaning and stature has now diminished. Voice your opinion here.