UCAN

National Dealers Warranty FINAL NOTICE scam letters are sent to unsuspecting consumers with Customer ID #s to make people believe they already have a 5-year. 100,000 mile extended warranty on their cars.  Victims are lead to believe that they are getting an employee discount price if they renew within 48 hours. 

Locksmith scams -- Why you need to make sure you use a licensed locksmith.

Skype Pro Customers who signed up for 12 months of unlimited service at $36 seem to be running into some problems and hidden gotchas with Skype.

Consumers who bought the cold remedy Airborne, and related products, between May 1, 2001, and November 29, 2007, can get their money back. Simply visit airbornesettlement.com to make your claim, I just did, and I'll give an update on the results. You can file a complaint online or print and send a claim form, but you'll want to rack your brain and try to remember...

1. The store from which you bought the product(s),
2. The amount you spent on the product(s).
3. The city in which you bought the product.
4. The type of product you bought

Debt elimination scams tout legal ways to dispose of mortgage loans or credit card debt and get a power of attorney to conduct transactions regarding the title of victims' homes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into "free" investment seminars geared toward retirees that are really high-pressure sales events.

On July 19th, VOIP provider Sun Rocket (www.sunrocket.com) announced it was terminating its service. Consumers fumed.....especially those that had plunked down up to $200 for a prepaid annual contract of low-cost VOIP service.

To the company's credit, it arranged deals with other VOIP companies to take over the contracts of its customers. While some customers reported losing VOIP service, the majority appeared not to have suffered loss of phone service. However, quite a few customers reported that they'd prepaid for an annual contract and these new service providers were not honoring those contracts. They were angry and felt ripped off.

The closure came without any warning. Even people working at the company report being surprised by the news. Many didn't find out until the day they reported to work and noticed that the phones weren't ringing at their office: the company's call center had been shut down but the CSRs weren't told! Yet, people in the industry knew that Sunrocket was struggling to find a buyer and had been repeatedly failing.....in part because of the liabilities posed by the annual contracts that had been prepaid.

The good news is that for those customers who paid the annual fee and now have nothing to show for it, some credit card companies are agreeing to refund the money for the unused service. Chase, in particular, is reported to be crediting customers' account. It is likely others will as well. There's some good information about what former Sunrocket customers can do to get their money back and/or switch to other VOIP providers. In particular, check out:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r18686213-SR-Bankrupt-Recap-What-T...

I recently received a deceptive notice from Domain Registry of America. The "notice," which looks more like a bill than a notice, gives the impression that a domain I own is about to expire and must be renewed. Domain Registry of America's notice informed me that, "Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity making it difficult for your customers and friends to locate you on the Web." OK. That's very thoughtful, but my domain doesn't expire until November. Why is Domain Registry of America only giving me until July 23 to reply? Well, mostly because it's a scam. Read more.

The number on your caller ID may or may not be a law firm, the IRS or your bank calling you! By using a special prepaid calling card, you can become the victim to real financial disaster if you give away any personal information requested by the caller. Watch the Good Morning America story.

There are Internet sites like www.SpoofCard.com or www.itellas.com where anyone can buy a prepaid calling card. This prepaid calling card has special features to hide the real identity of the caller. There are Federal regulations prohibiting the use of this technology by telemarketers and debt collectors. This service is also a stalker's dream and a victim's nightmare. Who else but telemarketers, debt collectors, scam artists trying to get your personal information and stalkers trying to harrass you, would need this type of service? Even though it is said that the service is for Law Enforcement, Skip Tracers, Private Investigators, etc., everyone knows that these professionals have other means to accomplish the same goal. The "Spoofer" is also able to change his/her voice to be a man or a woman and not sound like a recording. With a "Spoof" call, *69 (Call Return), *57 (Call Trace), and Anonymous Call features to typically provide you with information, do not work.

The people or companies using this service are able to send any number to your Caller ID. As a victim of identity theft, I received calls where total strangers pretended to be someone else and were demanding my date of birth, social security number, current and previous addresses and my mother's maiden name. One call came from a 512 area code and turned out to be the Secretary of State Comtroller Office for Texas to gather information for taxes. There is no state tax in Texas! Another call was a law firm in Tampa, Florida calling to collect debts on three credit cards. Again, personal information was requested including my bank account number. As a victim of ID theft, I did not take the threat of a major lawsuit or the threat of taking my home lightly. These scam artists fortunately said I owed on 3 cards that I had never used or ordered and that were already removed from my credit history as part of the ID theft.

The attempt to personally violate others is inexcusable and reflects the lowest form of human character. Now that a legislator was "spoofed", laws against the companies providing the service are being enacted. If problems had resulted for regular consumers like you and me, there is no telling how long this practice would have continued.

Consumers are receiving a pre-recorded message in Spanish claiming that they have won a prize. If you respond as an English-speaker, you are immediately disconnected. Spanish-speaking callers are told that they have won a free Mexican vacation if they are able to get through to the 859 phone numbers.

As with all of these types of offers, there's always a "Gotcha". The best way to stop this practice is to file complaints with the Federal Trade commission (FTC) at www.ftc.gov. This federal agency responds to the quantity of complaints received for a single issue. Therefore, you will help yourself and others by filing an online complaint ASAP