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.”
Roswell Daily Record: The Education Plan announces launch of new website. “The Education Plan, New Mexico’s 529 education savings program, has launched a new website with enhanced tools and resources to help parents, grandparents and individuals plan and save for future education…. The site features analysis of education costs, a glossary that defines common terms related to savings plans, a breakdown of tax benefits, an overview of qualified expenses and an interactive map to determine the 529 savings opportunities in each state, among other content and tools.”
The Register: Cybercriminals do their homework for latest banking scam . “A new social engineering scam is making the rounds, and this one is particularly insidious: It tricks users into sending money to what they think is their own account to reverse a fraudulent charge.”
State Of New York: NYSERDA Announces Launch of NY Energy Advisor Website. “The New York State Energy Research and Develop Authority (NYSERDA) today announced the launch of the NY Energy Advisor website, designed to streamline the awareness of and access to clean energy programs and energy assistance for low-to moderate income households in New York State.”
New York Times: Supply Chain Hurdles Will Outlast Pandemic, White House Says. “The coronavirus pandemic and its ripple effects have snarled supply chains around the world, contributing to shipping backlogs, product shortages and the fastest inflation in decades. But in a report released Thursday, White House economists argue that while the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in the supply chain, it didn’t create them — and they warned that the problems won’t go away when the pandemic ends.”
BusinessWire: Museum of American Finance to Bring Museum Finance Academy Certificate Program for High School Students to National Audience (PRESS RELEASE). “The Museum of American Finance announced it will bring its popular Museum Finance Academy (MFA) course for high school students to a national audience for the Spring 2022 semester with the addition of a second section of the afterschool program to accommodate the schedules of students in different time zones…. Currently offered virtually via Zoom, MFA is a free five-session personal finance certificate course for 11th and 12th graders with the goal of teaching students to aspire to financial independence through developing an appreciation for savings, establishing financial goals and learning to avoid scams. This course requires no prior knowledge of finance, business or economics.”
Ars Technica: Dealership markups are getting crazy, so this site is tracking them. “In the US, the vast majority of car buyers are not accustomed to ordering vehicles from an OEM through a dealership, instead preferring the convenience of taking a car home ‘from the lot’ that day. But as inventory has evaporated, US dealerships have reacted by adding additional dealer markups, or ADMs, to their stock, often to the tune of many thousands of dollars. One estimate of the value of the markups came to $3.6 billion…. Now, a new site… is crowdsourcing data on ADMs around the country to better arm car buyers with the information they need to avoid being fleeced.”
CNET: Internet Crime Cost People More Than $6.9B in 2021, FBI Says. “People lost more than $6.9 billion to internet crimes in 2021, a jump of more than $2 billion from 2020, according to the FBI’s annual Internet Crime Report. The report, released Tuesday, contains ‘information about the most prevalent internet scams’ reported to the federal law enforcement agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.”
Globe and Mail: TikTok and Instagram have made personal finance cool: The trick is finding the good stuff. “Bloggers and YouTubers have been creating down-to-earth and friendly financial content since well before the pandemic. But financial advice on platforms like TikTok and Instagram exploded when COVID-19 restrictions and a 21-month stock market rally drew scores of home-bound millennial and Gen Z novices to financial markets and to seek out online money-management information. Of course, plenty of financial advice on social media is factually wrong or outright fraudulent. But some successful financial influencers, or finfluencers, see themselves as educators who can speak to individuals and life challenges often neglected by traditional sources.”
New York Times: Utility Bills Piled Up During the Pandemic. Will Shut-offs Follow?. “At the start of the pandemic two years ago, as millions of unemployed Americans were unable to pay their bills, state-imposed moratoriums generally barred utilities from shutting off power. But most states, including New York, have lifted those restrictions in recent months. New Jersey’s moratorium, one of the last in effect, expired on March 15.”
Wall Street Journal: The WSJ Guide to Student Loans: Navigating the Myths and Misunderstandings About College Debt. “Which college majors pay off? Is graduate school a golden goose or a money pit? Are Ivy League degrees usually worth it? The Wall Street Journal answers these questions—and many more—in a first-of-its kind guide to student debt. Readers can download The WSJ Guide to Student Loans: Navigating the Myths and Misunderstandings About College Debt, free by following this link.” I cynically expected that link to go to some kind of required registration before download, but nope – it goes straight to a 148-page PDF file. Good on you, WSJ.
Route Fifty: Pandemic Ushering in Rental Housing Crisis. “A recent analysis shows landlords are tightening screening criteria, using alternative eviction practices and increasing rent rates. The housing shortage is only making things worse.”
ABC News: US retail spending slows as inflation starts to bite. “Retail sales increased 0.3% after registering a revised 4.9% jump from December to January, fueled by wage gains, solid hiring and more money in banking accounts, according to the Commerce Department. January’s increase was the biggest jump in spending since last March, when American households received a final federal stimulus check of $1,400.”
New York Times: How California Is Building the Nation’s First Privacy Police. “Mr. [Ashkan] Soltani faces the daunting task of overseeing the first government body in the United States with the sole job of regulating how Google, Facebook, Amazon and other companies collect and use data from millions of people. The office, the California Privacy Protection Agency, will be a more than 30-person group with a $10 million annual budget to help enforce the state’s privacy law, which is among the most stringent in the country.”
PsyPost: Focus on money lessened throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. “A series of three studies examined the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on materialism, finding an overall decrease in the importance people place on money. This research was published in the journal Psychology & Marketing.”
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