Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 41461
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2006/1/20-23 [Finance/CC, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Others] UID:41461 Activity:kinda low
1/20    So some guy (with an obvious Indian accent) calls me at home
        and says he's calling about some govt consumer grant where I can
        get up to $5000 and they will send me a package with an application
        and I can apply for the grant?  I was skeptical and just asked him
        if he was from India and he got pissed off and hung up on me.  So,
        do all the soda motders think this guy was really working for the
        govt and that they were calling me so I could apply for a grant,
        or is it more likely some scam?  He knew my name already, and
        didn't ask for any more information from me.
        \- maybe he was really from pakistan.
        \_ I'm from the Government and I'm here to help!
        \_ Maybe you should've asked if he was *in* India.
           \_ Well, I asked him where he was and he said he was in
              St. Petersberg, FL.  Later, I asked if he was from India.
              He said his last name was Rodgers, but he had an obvious
              foreign accent.  -op
        \_ Sounds like a scam to me.  Here:
           http://www.consumeraffairs.com/scam_alerts/grant.html
           But here's a rule of thumb:  if it appeals to your greed, it's
           likely to be a scam.  I mean, how eager are you to give someone
           something for nothing?  --PM
           \- one of my credit card companies offered me i think $25,000
              for a year at 0% interest for $75 up front. after it became
              clear i didnt "need" the money, we actually had sort of an
              interesting conversation ... i said "that is below mkt interest"
              and she said she knew but they sort of rely on people screwing
              up and not being able to pay back or forgetting ... and then
              complimented be on having a high savings rate. that was a weirdly
              refreshing conversation. you got the sense the person at the
              other end was reasonable sharp and not a telemarketing drone.
              \_ YMEW
                  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/view
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www.consumeraffairs.com/scam_alerts/grant.html
Consumer Complaints The "free money" scam has been around almost as long as the human species. It has more variations than a bulldog has wrinkles but you can count on one thing: the government (any government) does not simply give money away to individuals. Anyone who tells you differently has larceny in his heart. If you give him your bank account number, he will soon have your funds in his pocket. Below is a tiny sample of the hundreds and hundreds of complaints we receive about the many versions of this scam. It does no good to list all of the names used by these bunko artists because a) they change all the time and b) every single free-money government-grant offer is a scam. Marcia of Dearborn, MI (8/5/05): Apparently the Federal Government free grant money scam continues on. A couple weeks ago, I received a call on my cell phone from a woman that said she had free Federal government money for me in the amount of $5,000. I asked repeatedly how she obtained my cell phone number, as I had never applied for a grant, and specifically had never contacted her agency. I asked this woman her name and if there was a call back phone number or website where I could check things out. A week later, I received a call from another lady with the same government grant information agency. When I asked her how she got my private cell phone number she sidestepped my question by saying "Don't you want this free money? I am authorized to get you this money, don't you want it?" She said she wanted to verify my address and asked if I had a checking account. I said yes, I had a checking account, but I absolutely wasn't going to give any financial information to a stranger. She wanted to verify my checking account and I said "No Way! I am not about to give you any checking account or charge card information. I said the US government doesn't go around picking out people to dole out "free money" to and if I was eligible for a grant, I could find out about that for myself for free". I am very guarded about giving out my cell phone number and I believe this group may have gotten my cell phone number from Surplus Alert, as that was the only place I had recently given out my number. Damages: Thankfully, I did not suffer any financial hardship because I refused to give out any financial information. Angela of Las Vegas, NV (8/4/05): I received a call on my cell phone. When I refused to give them any information and she started to argue with me. Mark of West Seneca, NY (6/28/05): I got a phone call telling me that I had free Government money coming! But first the person on the phone needed to "verify" some information. She wanted to know my mailing address and my SS# and to also verify my name. I delayed giving her the information so I could get ANY kind of information from her, but all she would give me was her name and an 800 number to call. Damages: None, I can't believe people believe these scams! Samuel of Grand Prairie TX (11/2/04): This group has repeatedly called my apartment for solicitation. The person I spoke to had a heavy Indian accent but said his name was Michael. Gena of Montgomery AL (10/30/04): Dominic Lawson called to inform me that I was qualified for a government grant. He informed me that he was with the Department of Government Grants and Information Services and gave me the 800 number and PO Box. He verified my name, address and telephone number then asked me for my date of birth, and the name of my bank at which they could verify that I had a checking account. Later on in our conversation, he said that in order to insure that the grant money was received by me and did not get into the wrong hands he would need my bank account number. He tried to talk me into it so I gave him an incorrect account number just to see where this was going. After giving him the account number, he transferred me to an automated computer system so that I could get my seven digit verification number which would be my "legal proof" (for what I never could understand). The automated voice told me that this conversation was being recorded, then the voice asked for all of my information again (name, address, etc . I wouldn't give the information, and asked if I could handle it by mail instead. I was then transferred to Gloria Wilson, Dominic's supervisor. She stressed the importance of the "seven digit verification number for legal proof" and the "government regulations". I was informed that was against "government regulations". Gloria got frustrated with my questions and transferred me to Joe Carter. Joe had a foreign accent, but was much easier to understand. Joe started by trying to find out what my problem was with the situation. I stayed on the phone with these people, basically to see if I could get any information out of them. They just kept repeating themselves over and over again. When I asked Joe if he worked for the government, he said "I didn't say that." I confronted him about what he was trying to do, and he proceeded to curse at me. He said the money never needs to be repaid and it was tax-free. He asked if anyone in our family had a checking account that we could used. He said he needed to talk to the person whose name was on the account. So, I had a list of questions ready to ask him when and if he called back. He did call back from 678-298-2212 and asked me if I was the person on the account and I said no. I then told him that the account number I gave him was an old account that wasn't any good; He started all over again telling me how much we've been awarded. I proceded to tell him that there should not be fee at all for processing grants. He told me that there is no fee to file the grant, that the fee was for them to file the paper work for me. Deborah of New London OH (10/26/04): I was called to receive a $5,000 to $10,000 government grant. They were not affiliated with but were hired by the goverment to fill out applications for grants. The goverment has in excess of 3 trillion dollars in grants they need to use before the end of the year. Has to be deducted from bank account to speed up the process. After I hung up I felt really scared so I began to make phone calls, checked Web sites only to find out this has been done in other states. Anand of Westborough MA (10/26/04): The caller identified himself that he's from the US Government Grants funds and the US government has randomly picked me for giving away grants anywhere between $5,000 - $25,000. I am still not sure what he or that organization is going to do. Lori of Midland TX (10/21/04): This company by the name "AMERICAN GRANT INFORMATION GUIDE" called me and told me that there was $5,000 that they needed to send to me because I applied for a grant a couple of years ago and I was accepted. The reason I fell for this scam is because I had applied for a grant 3 years ago because I wanted to go to college and it was accepted and I haven't used it because I have just been working and I haven't made the time to go to college so I believed them. When I received the kit it only had names of companies I could get hold of to apply for a grant. So then I called the company back asking plenty of questions like what is this for, where is the form to fill out? Well I finally started to notice that this was a scam and I called them for an address to send the kit back and the man that answered said he couln't give me an address and that he could not return my money until I applied for a grant and when I applied if and when I was denied three times then they would send me a form to fill out so that I could get my money back. What also got me is that if they are a big company like they say they are everytime I called James Douglas was the one to always pick up the phone and 99% of the time when you call a company more than once you hardly ever get the same person pick up the phone. Audra of Chandler AZ (10/17/04): I was called on the phone by Mr William, who sounded of Asian decent. He said my husband had been selected to receive a grant from the US government in the amount of $8,000, guaranteed, and possibly up to $25,000. This grant was free and would be a "bank to bank transaction", as he said. I would...
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www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/view -> www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/view/
Buy the VHS It's one of the most wonderful times of the year for the banking industry's most lucrative business: credit cards. In the coming weeks, millions of Americans will reach into their wallets and use plastic to buy an estimated $100 billion in holiday gifts. low - 56k 2 A Closer Look at the Industry's Best Customers The big profits come from the 90 million who don't pay off their credit card debt. The industry's success has also been shaped by the genius of financial innovators. low - 56k 3 Credit Reporting Agencies/Traps in the Fine Print Why it's important to understand your credit score and how it is compiled and also to read your credit card agreement -- hard as it may be to decipher. low - 56k 4 More Complaints Than Any Other Industry Consumers' banking/credit card complaints increase. But the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates the national banks, has been engaged in what some call a turf battle with the states' regulators. Chris Dodd has introduced a credit card reform bill that would curb industry practices. But Dodd's many previous attempts to reform the industry have all failed. In this one-hour report, correspondent Lowell Bergman uncovers the techniques used by the industry to earn record profits and get consumers to take on more debt. "The almost magical convenience of plastic money is critical to our famously compulsive consumer economy," Bergman says. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover to make ends meet; credit cards have been a discreet lifeline for families in financial straits. But other consumers, like actor and author Ben Stein, use plastic purely for convenience. While it would appear that Stein -- who says he charges a small fortune every month on his credit cards -- is the ideal customer, in reality, he is what some in the industry call a "deadbeat." The industry's most profitable customers, the ones being sought by creative marketing tactics, are the "revolvers:" the estimated 115 million Americans who carry monthly credit card debt. Ed Yingling, incoming president of the American Bankers Association, tells FRONTLINE that revolvers are "the sweet spot" of the banking industry. This "sweet spot" continues to grow as the average credit card debt among American households has more than doubled over the past decade. Today, the average family owes roughly $8,000 on their credit cards. This debt has helped generate record profits for the credit card industry -- last year, more than $30 billion before taxes. began twenty-five years ago, when the banking industry successfully eliminated a critical restriction: the limit on the interest rate a lender can charge a borrower. Deregulation, coupled with a revolution in technology that enables the almost real-time tracking of personal financial information and the emergence of nationwide banking, has facilitated the widening availability of credit cards across the economic spectrum. Elizabeth Warren, the credit card companies are misleading consumers and making up their own rules. "These guys have figured out the best way to compete is to put a smiley face in your commercials, a low introductory rate, and hire a team of MBAs to lay traps in the fine print," Warren tells FRONTLINE. Warren and other critics say that a growing share of the industry's revenues come from what they call deceptive tactics, such as "default" terms spelled out in the fine print of cardholder agreements -- the terms and conditions of which can be changed at any time for any reason with 15 days' notice. Banking Association spokesman Yingling defends industry practices. Because the credit card business is basically unsecured lending, he says, the risks associated with the business must be offset. Out of one thousand industries that we track, they are number one," says Pat Wallace, head of the San Francisco Bay Area Better Business Bureau. "There are irritated, unhappy, dissatisfied customers in this industry." As Professor Warren sees it, the industry is operating without fear of penalty. "There's no regulator, and there's no customer who can bring this industry to heel," Warren says.