Cell Phone Telemarketing

In the last couple months I have received a handful of telemarketing solicitations on my cell phone. It is usually a prerecorded message warning me of how I'm driving my vehicle "without coverage" and that it is "urgent" that I purchase a vehicle warranty. I also received another one stating that I won a vacation, sweepstakes, or some other prize. These questionable tactics have been covered here before, but there seems to have been a surge in cell phone telemarketing solicitations which are an increasing annoyance for many people all over the country in recent months. Apparently, the telemarketers don't care whether or not your number is on the National Do Not Call Registry.

I filed a complaint with the FCC, and I urge you to do the same. The solicitations that I have record of on my cell phone are 702-520-1462, and 410-727-5090. What other phone numbers have you noticed?

Google Checkout = BROKEN

As I was perusing my feeds this morning, I stumbled upon a hot deal for a SanDisk 4GB Cruzer Titanium USB flash drive for $22 with free shipping. I noticed that you could get the drive for $11.99 (a $10 discount) if you signed up for Google Checkout through Buy.com. Being a Google fanboy, I figured it would be a great time to sign up, since I already have a Google account, and I just couldn't pass up such a sweet deal. I added my credit card to my Google Checkout account, placed the order, and received a confirmation e-mail. Unfortunately, about thirty minutes later I got an e-mail saying that the order had been canceled. I tried it again, and the order was canceled again. I tried using a different credit card, but the order was canceled again. I called my bank and I made sure I had all of the right information. It turns out that I entered an incorrect credit card expiration date for the second credit card. So, I entered the correct information again, but the order was denied again.

I tried to see if I could contact someone at Google Checkout. I dug up a phone number from Gethuman for Google Support (650-623-4000), but when I reached a representative she informed me that there was no support for Google Checkout. No support? Nice. Why was my credit card still being denied, even after checking with my bank and verifying all of my information?

I scoured the Google Checkout help pages and tried placing the order five times total, using two different credit cards. Every time, the order was canceled. After digging some more on the Google Checkout help pages (and beginning to wonder if this is worth my precious time), I was able to find a contact form after eight tricky clicks. Hopefully, I'll get a response soon.

After trying all day, I noticed that the much-coveted flash drive is now out of stock. It really shouldn't be this difficult. Google Checkout is broken. If Google hopes to succeed with their Checkout service, they must improve their customer support and the usability of this product which has great potential. I hope you have better luck with Google Checkout than I did.
Comments? Suggestions?

Save Money at the Gas Pump

BYU NewsNet's Ashley Evanson posts some tips on saving money at the gas pump. The following suggestions are taken from the article and may save you come extra cash when filling up.

• • Buy gas on Wednesday mornings: According to gaspricewatch.com, prices are highest on the weekends and settle down by midweek.


• • Fill up in the morning: The colder it is outside the denser the gasoline is, giving you more for your money. Most gas stations don't compensate for a temperature change.


• • Put the nozzle on "slow" mode: Most pumps have three speeds: high, middle and low. Pumping on the low speed minimizes the amount of vapors created while pumping. If it's on high, vapors fill your tank instead of gas, but you still pay as if it were all gas.


• • Fill up when you're tank is half empty: The more gas that's in the tank, the less air there is in the empty space. Gasoline evaporates at an unimaginable speed, and the less air in the tank, the slower it evaporates.


• • Never fill up when a gasoline truck is pumping gas into the storage tanks: The gas in the tanks is being stirred and the dirt that usually settles at the bottom will be pumped into your tank. No piece of dirt is worth $3.25 a gallon. (Source: BYU NewsNet, Photo, tome213)

Stellar Customer Satisfaction

This week online movie rental web site Netflix experienced a major outage. The web site was inaccessible for most of Monday and DVD shipments were delayed by a day. For the majority of Netflix subscribers, this was not a big deal--web sites go down from time to time. Those red Netflix envelopes with DVD's inside were likely sitting on top of our DVD players collecting dust anyway, just waiting for us to find a couple of hours to sit down and enjoy a movie. But downtime, especially if your business depends solely on a web service being available, can seriously impact a company's stock value and public perception.

So, to counter any negative affects of this outage, Netflix has issued a 5% credit to all subscribers, seemingly without any pressure from customers. Well done Netflix! Not only is Netflix the best online movie rental service in terms of service, speed, additional features such as online streaming, and the ability to greatly customize your selections, but also they are willing to completely satisfy their customers. Netflix customer support has always been very responsive, and I am always greeted by a patient and helpful service representative when the rare occasion arises that I need to contact them by phone. This is much more than can be said for Blockbuster. (Source: AppScout)

Confessions of a Car Salesman

Edmunds.com has an informative and entertaining piece called Confessions of a Car Salesman that reveals some secrets and tricks that car dealerships use to try to sell you an overpriced car. They hired a writer to take jobs at a couple of new car dealerships in the L.A. area. Chandler Phillips talks about his experience and offers some insights for the consumer.

Phillips says, "The system was designed to catch people off guard, to score a quick sale, to exploit people who were weak or uninformed. Those were our buyers...I know that many of the salespeople I worked with would take an extra thousand dollars profit without a thought, then laughingly brag about it to the other salespeople. The management of the dealership rewarded this kind of profit taking and called it superior salesmanship." Of particular value is the final installment called "Lessons from the Lot," which tells you what to watch out for. (Source: Edmunds.com)

Digital TV Converter Box Coupons

In case you haven't heard, Feb. 17, 2009 will be the day when U.S. broadcast TV stations will shut off their old analog broadcasts and switch to all-digital broadcasting. To help with the conversion, the U.S. government is offering two $40 coupons that can be used towards the purchase of a digital converter box. (Source: US News & World Report, 12/31/07-1/7/08, p. 70)

Internet Safety Podcast

"Because children have high levels of exposure, media have greater access and time to shape young people's attitudes and actions than do parents or teachers, replacing them as educators, role models, and the primary sources of information about the world and how one behaves in it." (AAP) In our hyper-connected world, protecting our families, especially children, and ourselves from unsavory influences and real threats becomes a top priority. While teaching children self-control and the correct usage of technology is important, the risks of unintentional exposure can be mitigated by putting certain practices and tools in place.

The Internet Safety Podcast aims to "educate parents, teachers, and teens about the benefits and risks of technology...[and] make technical issues and solutions accessible in an educational, entertaining, and useful way." Dr. Charles D. Knutson, professor of Computer Science at Brigham Young University and Joe Brockbank help make "the world a safer place, one podcast at a time." Check it out!

Watch Crash Test Videos on ConsumerReports.org

ConsumerReports.org has an easy-to-use web interface that allows you to watch car crash tests from the National Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It is somewhat limited to newer vehicles and doesn't provide too much additional information, but it is still useful. (Sources: ConsumerReports.org, via Lifehacker)

Monster.com Hacked, Personal Info Stolen

Job search site Monster.com was recently hacked according to a Digital Trends article. Apparently the Monster.com login credentials for an employer account was compromised and the personal information of hundreds of thousands of users was stolen. The compromised data is reportedly already being used by malicious hackers to send specific, targeted phishing e-mails containing personal information. The fraudulent e-mails claim to be from Monster.com and are designed to install a Trojan horse that will capture bank login information and encrypt the infected computer, holding the data hostage until a payment is made. (Source: Digital Trends)

Clean, Safe Web Browsing for Your Family (free)

Joel Dehlin, a former Microsoft employee and co-founder of Microsoft Surface, and now CIO for the LDS Church recently posted a very interesting question on his blog. He asked readers what they do to manage Internet usage in their homes. Protecting your family, especially little children, from potential danger while accessing the Internet is no doubt a top concern of parents everywhere. Threats range from pornography, pedophilia, and stalking, to identity theft and computer security breaches. Due to the ever-evolving nature of technology, it is impossible to be completely protected from indecent content or other security risks associated with Internet usage. One must constantly be vigilant. Teaching correct principles and following some basic rules (such as no unsupervised, aimless web surfing or no installation of unknown, risky software) seem to be the most effective way to combat exposure to obscenity and security threats. Nevertheless, there are some technology-based tools that definitely make the battle a lot easier.

ScrubIT is a free service that filters out millions of malicious and obscene sites using good ol' DNS, the protocol that translates an easy-to-remember host name such as www.google.com into a numeric IP address like 64.233.167.104. No more accidental stumbling upon obscene web sites because of a mistyped URL. Instead of using your Internet service provider's DNS servers, you use ScrubIT's free DNS servers. For most users who use a router to share their Internet connection, this change can easily be made in the router's configuration page:

This way, all computers behind the router/firewall will be filtered. If you don't have a router, you can automatically configure your computer to use the ScrubIT DNS servers by downloading their config utility. If you know what you are doing, you can also manually enter in the ScrubIT DNS servers (67.138.54.100 and 207.225.209.66) in the connection properties.

The service seems to be fairly new but is indeed promising for those who are fed up with pornography, pop-ups, and other problems related to malicious or obscene sites, or for those who just want to play it safe. The service is completely free and the ScrubIT web site promises that it will stay that way. They are working on implementing a paid service that will allow users to customize what sites get blocked. I will be looking forward to this because one problem is that ScrubIT blocks Blogger.com, and we use Blogger in our family a lot. But, the beauty of a DNS-based solution such as ScrubIT, or a gateway or router-based solution like the Astaro Security Gateway (free for home users), is that you don't have to load any software that could bog down your computer or cause other problems. ScrubIT is not a silver bullet, but it is certainly an efficient and useful tool that can easily be setup to help protect families from potential online threats. I whole-heartedly endorse them.

The Best Days To Buy Stuff

Yahoo Finance has an article that suggests the best days of the week to make purchases. For example, the article says that it's best to buy a plane ticket on Wednesday, and buy gasoline Thursdays before 10 a.m. Got any more smart consumer tips? Leave a comment below. (Sources: Yahoo Finance, via Life Hacker)

Disposable Phone Number

If you want to list your phone number online (e.g., in an online classified ad) or in the newspaper but you don't want to give out your actual phone number, consider using a free, disposable number from Numbr. The site will give you a disposable phone number that connects to your real phone number (you can even select a second number in case you aren't available at the first number). You can choose how long you want the number to be active (from one week to one month), and setup other options such as "do not disturb" hours, and even voicemail (they e-mail you the voice message as an attachment). (via Lifehacker)

Google Search Without the Text Ads

Not that the text advertisements on Google are very intrusive or annoying (in fact, they may actually be helpful), but now you can use Google to search the web without the text ads. And the nice thing is that it is an official Google page, and not a hack. You can also use the Firefox extension Stylish to change the look of all sorts of different web sites. (Via Download Squad)

Rule 240, and Airline Flight Cancellations, Delays, etc.

A co-worker passed along some valuable information that might come in handy if you find yourself dealing with a canceled or delayed airlight flight. Rule 240 is a policy that states what airlines will do for the customer in the event of a canceled, delayed flight, or missed connection. The article mentioned here has links to each airline's Rule 240, which you should print out and carry with you when you travel. You may be entitled to "free meal vouchers, hotel accommodations, phone calls, and other amenities." (Source: MY Travel Rights.com)

Apple Video iPods, Now With Free Virus!

A recent batch of Video iPods from Apple have shipped with a Windows virus. "The virus has been identified as the Rjump or Rajump worm by antivirus software makers and as RavMonE virus by Apple. Incidents of the virus infecting iPod owners occurred as early as September 22, according to comments on Apple's support forum." Nice. (Source: SecurityFocus, Apple)

UPDATE (10/19/06) Microsoft's Jonathan Poon responds to Apple's statement, "we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses".

Don't Take The Bait: Beware Phishers

We've all heard it before, "Don't open an e-mail from someone you don't know," or "Never click on a link or open an e-mail that asks you to login to your bank or other online account." Well, today I was almost suckered! Surprisingly, with all of the phishing warnings out there, thieves continue to use the same old techniques to try to trick more victims into handing over their important usernames and passwords or other sensitive information. That must mean that it continues to work!

I saw an e-mail in my Inbox from PayPal that said a payment had been sent to So-And-So for $475 for a new Nokia cell phone. What!? I was upset that perhaps someone had fraudulently used my account! By the time I had instinctively opened the e-mail, I realized the mistake I was making. Oops! That's right! Just opening the e-mail is enough to infect your machine in some cases. You see, behind that pretty e-mail message, there is code. The code tells your e-mail program (or web browser) how to display the text, images, etc. on the page. In some e-mail messages the code can send a message back to the author confirming your e-mail address (leading to more spam), or possibly install a virus or exploit another vulnerability on your computer. Note that viewing messages in the "Preview Pane" or "Reading Pane" in some e-mail programs is the same as opening the e-mail messages themselves. I recommend disabling this feature. Since this e-mail was suspect, I should have right-clicked on it to view the message source. Luckily, this e-mail did not contain any malicious code embedded in the e-mail nor did it attempt to "phone home" or install anything. But it did contain something equally disturbing.

The whole purpose of this fraudulent e-mail was to get me to click on the link in the e-mail to "Dispute Transaction" and then enter my PayPal username and password. Examining the message source code I found that behind that "Dispute Transaction" link was some code linking to another site in Germany. Gotcha! The e-mail linked to a fraudulent site that appears to be the actual PayPal site, but was actually stealing my PayPal login credentials. There were a bunch of other things about the e-mail that didn't add up, such as the non-existent shipping address that appeared in the e-mail.

"What should I do?" Remember to never click on a link in an e-mail. It's too easy for someone to mask the actual link so that it appears that you are clicking on something legitimate, but actually linking to a malicious site. If you suspect that someone may have used your PayPal (or other account), open your web browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox), and go directly to the site by typing in www.paypal.com in the browser's address bar. It is wise to not open any suspicious e-mail. With the barrage of messages we receive daily, it's difficult to distinguish the real e-mail from the junk. Use caution when opening all e-mail and remember that simply opening an e-mail message in certain instances is enough to do damage. And as always, do not open any suspicious e-mail attachments. We've all heard this advice before in regards to keeping safe online. This is just a reminder.

Awards Verification Center Wants Your Phone Number

You may have seen my previous post in regards to an experience I and many others have had with the Awards Verification Center (2400 W. Pioneer Pkwy, Suite 210, Arlington, TX 76013, 1-800-925-9525). Well, tonight I had another bad experience. I received a letter in the mail with my name and address stating that I had won a Mercedes Benz M-Class, BMW X5, Porsche, $40,000 in cash, and another long list of prizes. I'd seen this before and knew it was simply another tactic to get me in to one of their aggressive sales pitches to spend money on a timeshare. So, I called the toll free number 1-800-925-9525, and requested that I be removed from their mailing list. I spoke to a representative who took my confirmation number printed on the letter and then asked for my phone number. "My phone number?" She said that she needed my telephone number to remove my address from their mailing list. I was dialing in with Skype, in order to not give them my real telephone number, and I told them that I would rather not give them my number. I am positive that they do not have my telephone number, but the representative, and her supervisor insisted that they must have my telephone number in order to be removed from their mailing list. They refused to remove me from their list and were less than helpful. It's a shame that we must be so aggressive just to maintain our privacy these days.

Credit Cards

Cash? Who uses cash? Today, it's all about the plastic! Let's face it, credit cards are convenient, in most cases more secure, and you probably wouldn't be able to rent a car or get a hotel room without one. Plus, it can help to establish a positive credit history if you ever intend to finance a car or a house. The average U.S. household carries between $7,500 and $8,000 of credit card debt (PBS). According to one web site, "The credit card industry is the most profitable one in the United States with annual earnings in the $30 billion range. Many people might be surprised to learn that a single credit card issuer -- MBNA -- earned 1.5 times more profit than McDonalds in 2004. Citibank, another major credit card issuer, earns more profit than both Microsoft and Walmart." (BCS Alliance)

You may have seen the following scenario before in a math story problem in school. I was curious, and not in the mood to solve a story problem, so I went out to Bankrate.com's credit card calculator to see how long it would take to pay off a theoretical credit card debt of $1,000. If I only pay the minimum monthly amount (2% or $20, which is the minimum monthly amount on many credit cards) it would take 19.3 years to pay off and I would end up paying $1,931.33 in interest, assuming an 18% interest rate. Credit card companies earn most of their profits from consumers who only pay the minimum monthly payment. These folks are known as "revolvers". If you pay off your balance every month, then you never pay any interest, even though the credit card company still earns a percentage from each transaction which is charged to the merchant. You will then be called a "deadbeat" by the credit card company (PBS). It may also be alarming that if you are late paying on any other card agreement or debt, even with a different institution, the credit card company may raise the interest rate. Joe Lombardo, a high school economics teacher from New York commented, "credit is a tool that can make lives easier if used sensibly, or a nightmare if you get sucked into the "tender traps" the Companies use to lure you into their web." (PBS)

PBS's Frontline program Secret History of the Credit Card is an interesting look at the credit card industry, its affects on consumers, and raises some interesting questions on regulations and proposed legislation related to the credit card industry. After watching the program, which you can view or read online, you may think twice before pulling out the plastic. (Sources: Bankrate.com, BCS Alliance, PBS)

Beware of Phone Scams via E-mail

Malicious individuals are always thinking up new ways to steal your information using social engineering. The latest scam is using a technique called "vishing" or voice phishing. The attacker will send a fraudulent e-mail claiming to be from a bank or other organization and state that there is a problem with the victim's account. It will give a phone number to call where the victim is asked to give personal or sensitive information. According to the article, "some vishing attacks don't begin with an e-mail. Some come as calls out of the blue in which the caller already knows the recipient's credit card number — increasing the perception of legitimacy — and asks just for the valuable three-digit security code on the back of the card." (Sources: USATODAY)

U.S. Homeland Security Emergency Alerts

Your cell phone or other connected mobile device may soon be able to receive emergency alerts from the Department of Homeland Security whenever there is a disaster or an attack. According to the CNN article, it is part of a new digital alert system being developed by the Homeland Security Department, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to Aaron Walker from the Homeland Security Department, "Anything that can receive a text message will receive the alert." (Sources: CNN, Slashdot)

The Abuse of Public Information

We recently purchased a new home. It is busy, exciting, fun, and wonderful! When you purchase a home, there are stacks of papers to sign and many documents that must be processed and filed. One of those is the deed or title to the home, which in most cases is a public record filed with the county. I was curious and wanted to find out how easy I could obtain this information. I googled around, found my county's records web site, and within about three minutes I was looking at scanned copies of the actual deed and other documents relating to the sale. These documents show names, addresses, signatures, and other information that could be abused.

And abused this information has been! Within a week of moving in, we started receiving a lot of junk mail from all sorts of advertisers: home mortgage insurance companies, life insurance companies, satellite TV offers, as well as local shops selling window coverings, fence staining services, etc. I respond to each of these unsolicited marketing offers and politely request that I be removed from their records and ask them not to share my information with any affiliated or third party. But unfortunately, the deluge of junk hasn't stopped. Junk mail isn't the only concern with the public, open availability of one's personal information. Identity theft is the other worry. By obtaining someone's full name, address, and signature an identity thief would have half the information they need in order to steal your identity (only lacking a birthday or SSN)--and may have enough already to cause a lot of trouble. David Lish, a good friend of mine, wrote a great article about identity theft that offers some great insights and tips--I highly recommend it.

Also, whenever you purchase a car or change the adress on your vehicle registration, that is also public information which gets harvested by advertisers. Most notably are the infamous auto warranty companies that trick you into purchasing unnecessary auto warranties using questionable tactics.

I registered with the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service to be removed from their mailing lists. I permanently opted out with all the credit bureaus which you can do by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688), and then signing and mailing back the form they send you. We have also been getting a few telemarketing phone calls since the move-in, so I have registered my phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry. The FTC also has some great information regarding the sharing of personal information.

Unlike my home county who publishes public records freely on the internet, some counties require you to go through a formal ordering process and pay a small fee for the documents. This would probably discourage the common advertiser. It would be nice if counties and other companies who hold personal information would take more strict measures to safeguard your sensitive data. There doesn't seem to be any easy fix for protecting your personal information. It requires diligence on your part. Even after exhausting all your efforts, you may find that it is still not enough. If you have any suggestions, post a comment below.

New Napster Service Offers Free Listening

Napster has released a new free, web-based, ad-driven service that will allow users to listen to any song in their library free for five times. Then, you'll be prompted to purchase the track or subscribe to the monthly paid service. Not a bad thing if you want to preview an album well enough before purchasing. (Sources: CNet, Napster)

Awards Verification Center's Fishy Letters

I have recently received numerous letters from Awards Verification Center, 2400 W. Pioneer Pkwy, Suite 210, Arlington, TX 76013, with toll free numbers 1-800-239-9259, and 1-888-438-9492, informing me that I am an "official prizewinner" in their new Mercedes, BMW, Porsche or $40,000 cash promotion, and that they have been unable to contact me. They are also offering me a 4-day Royal Caribbean Cruise and a long list of other prizes, shopping sprees and cash rewards. How kind of them! I disregarded the first few letters, but they continued to come, and just yesterday I received a yellow envelope labeled "WESTERN MAILGRAM" addressed to me, which was obviously made to look like it came via Western Union, so it must be important.

I decided to do a little research and found a blurb on the Better Business Bureau's site stating that Awards Verification Center (who also has a long list of other known company names) is a company that "sells and operates vacation timeshares at various resort locations. The company sends letters offering one of several free awards to customers who agree to attend a sales presentation for vacation property." Of particular interest is this company's consumer rap sheet which sums up the company's 154 consumer complaints in the last 36 months. The site states, "Our file experience shows that this company has been the subject of complaints alleging misleading or high pressure selling tactics or dissatisfaction with the free award received at sales presentations. Complaints from timeshare owners primarily allege difficulties cancelling contracts, difficulties making reservations for specific dates, or dissatisfaction with resort services." Other folks have also complained about this company. This was not surprising. One guy even decided to have a little fun with them.

"If you have received an award letter from this company, it does not mean that you have won a contest," the BBB says. They caution that this company (whatever name it's going by) will invite people to its high-pressure sales meetings and offer you a vacation package that includes only daytime use of a facility, with overnight accommodations and transportation excluded. Do not give any personal information, credit card numbers or any other information to these types of solicitors. Basically, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. (Source: BBB)

UPDATE (9/8/06): I received another letter from Awards Verification Center, and this time, when I called them to request they remove me from their mailing list, they insisted I give them my telephone number. I'm positive they do not have my telephone number (BTW, I used Skype to call them), and I wasn't about to give it to them. They refused to remove me from their unsolicited marketing mailing list.

Comments posted below do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Brian Hall. The reader may gain helpful information by reading about the experiences of others posted here.