Read Max: What’s the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?. “Over the next several months, alongside the spam calls and texts, I kept getting mysterious wrong-number texts, all of them clearly from scammers, but without an obvious angle. Nevertheless, they shared with the original charity-gala text a literary sense of narrative tension.”
TechCrunch: Amazon agrees to drop Prime cancellation ‘dark patterns’ in Europe. “Amazon has agreed to simplify the process required for cancelling its Prime membership subscription service across its sites in the European Union, both on desktop and mobile interfaces, following a series of complaints from regional consumer protection groups. The coordinated complaints about Amazon’s confusing and convoluted cancellation process for Prime were announced back in April 2021 — so it’s taken just over a year for the e-commerce giant to agree to change its ways.”
New York Times: When Customers Say Their Money Was Stolen on Zelle, Banks Often Refuse to Pay. “While banks argue that they shouldn’t have to refund customers who inadvertently granted a scammer permission to use their accounts, they have also often been reluctant to refund customers like Mr. Oriach whose money was stolen. That could be a potential violation of the law.”
NewsWise: Study: Design Tricks Commonly Used to Monetize Young Children’s App Use. “The majority of apps preschool-aged children use are designed to make money off their digital experiences, a new study suggests. And children whose parents had lower education were more likely to use apps incorporating manipulative methods that increase advertising exposure, such as by keeping them playing games longer or encouraging in-app purchases.”
US Department of Veterans Affairs: AARP launches free online hub to help Veterans fight fraud. “AARP’s Veterans Fraud Center offers free information on the latest scams targeting the military community, tips for spotting other types of consumer fraud, and specially tailored resources to help protect Veterans and military families.”
CNBC: FBI says fraud on LinkedIn a ‘significant threat’ to platform and consumers. “Fraudsters who exploit LinkedIn to lure users into cryptocurrency investment schemes pose a ‘significant threat’ to the platform and consumers, according to Sean Ragan, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the San Francisco and Sacramento, California, field offices.”
Tubefilter: The FTC says social media is rife with crypto scams—and victims are losing hundreds of millions of dollars. “The majority of people encountering crypto scams on social media did so on a platform owned by Meta. The FTC’s data shows that 32% of people who fell prey to a crypto scam last year originally found it because of a post on Instagram. A further 26% of victims encountered scams on Facebook, and another 9% did so on WhatsApp, the messaging platform Meta bought for $19 billion in 2014.”
CNET: Crypto Scams Have Cost Consumers More Than $1 Billion, FTC Says. “Crypto scams have cost consumers more than $1 billion since the start of 2021, according to a new Federal Trade Commission analysis. The numbers, which are based on losses reported by consumers from January 2021 through March 2022, also show that crypto is becoming the payment of choice for many scammers, accounting for about one in every four dollars lost to fraud, the FTC says.”
NBC News: Parents accuse online sellers of price gouging on baby formula. “Parents struggling to find baby formula amid a nationwide shortage are reporting that price gougers are selling bottles and cans marked up by as much as 300 percent or more on websites like eBay, OfferUp, Amazon and Craigslist, and inside Facebook communities. But in many cases, they’re finding that the platforms are doing little to punish the predatory sellers.”
PR Newswire: Employers’ Forum of Indiana Introduces Sage Transparency, Built Using New RAND Hospital Price Study (PRESS RELEASE). “Using data from the upcoming RAND 4.0 Hospital Price Transparency Study, Employers’ Forum of Indiana today launched Sage Transparency, a publicly accessible and customizable dashboard to demonstrate hospital value…. Sage Transparency is a free-to-use, customizable dashboard which allows the user to compare metrics of hospital price and quality across states, health systems, and facilities.” The fact that Employers’ Forum of Indiana did it makes you think it might be Indiana-only, but I was able to look up hospital information all over America.
NBC News: Celebrity-endorsed NFTs leave some investors ‘financially crippled’. “It’s a pattern that crypto critics, watchdogs and even some influencers point to as an ongoing problem: digital investments riding a wave of NFT enthusiasm and backed by high-profile endorsements that quickly lose value. In some cases, in the crypto world, it’s what’s known as a ‘rug pull.’ But more broadly, ad transparency experts warn, public figures are promoting NFTs often without having done due diligence or warning their fans about the serious financial risks.”
Review Geek: Google Took My Money and Canceled My Nest Service. “I should preface all of this with some crucial details. I freely admit I’m partially to blame for the start of the mess. And you should be aware that I used the 1st generation version of Nest Aware, which isn’t offered anymore. But that doesn’t absolve Google of the fact that it has taken my money for my Nest Aware subscription and refuses to provide me that service. Nor does the terrible customer service I received help the situation either.”
ProPublica: Intuit Will Pay Millions to Customers Tricked Into Paying for TurboTax. “Millions of Americans will receive money from Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, as part of a $141 million settlement between the Silicon Valley company and all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company will send up to $90 apiece to more than 4 million people who paid for TurboTax software even though they were eligible to receive it for free.”
Business Insider: Two women are suing Google over Fitbit burn injuries, arguing a previous recall should have included the firm’s other smartwatch models. “Two women are suing Google over its Fitbit smartwatches, claiming models that weren’t included in a recent recall had caused burns. The Google-owned fitness firm previously recalled its Ionic Smartwatch in March, after at least 115 burn injuries were reported by those wearing it. Fitbit called back around 1.7 million Ionic watches, warning that the lithium-ion battery in the device could overheat and cause burns.”
New York Times: Senators question Zelle over how it is responding to reports of rising fraud.. “Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bob Menendez of New Jersey took aim at Zelle, the popular money transfer app, on Monday, warning that it is putting millions of Americans at risk of being defrauded.”
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