Cynja
The Cynja, Vol. 9: The cynsei needs help
What is this? Learn about the Cynja comic series here
Gotchas / Consumer
Five years after financial reform, new consumer agency still hasn’t won over critics
Hidden fees, penalties, surcharges and other “gotchas” drive consumers bonkers, but some companies love them. In the years leading up to the financial crisis, many credit card issuers and other lenders had created a labyrinth of complex fee charts that confused borrowers and made for easier profits. In the aftermath [Keep reading]
Gotchas / Consumer
Victims of medical bills domino effect might finally get some relief
Getting sick has led to millions of Americans paying more for car loans, mortgages and credit card debt – thanks to a medical debt domino effect. But slowly, that’s changing. Many people are worried that if they go to hospital then they won’t be able to pay for the bills [Keep reading]
Identity Theft
LifeLock violated settlement terms, FTC alleges
The firm that may have profited the most from consumer fears over identity theft has run into serious trouble with the Federal Trade Commission for the second time. LifeLock, which rose to prominence in the 1990s when its founder plastered his Social Security number across billboards in a marketing stunt, [Keep reading]
Credit cards
Citi will refund $700 million for deceptive marketing of credit card add-on products
Citi will refund roughly $700 million to 7 million consumers who paid for add-on credit card services like debt cancellation from 2003-2013 and pay a $35 million civil penalty for deceiving consumers with sale pitches, federal regulators announced today. Citibank and its affiliates intentionally confused consumers, tricking them into purchasing coverage [Keep reading]
Privacy
Some secrets are more valuable than others; Ashley Madison and the new ‘data kidnapping’
Some secrets are more valuable than others. And some secrets are more valuable TO others. In perhaps the most predictable extortion hack ever, cheating website Ashley Madison has confirmed to Brian Krebs that some of its data has been stolen. It now appears that tens of millions of people are at [Keep reading]
How To Buy Anything
Save thousands, buy a car in a private sale — but do it carefully
One of the easiest ways to save money, and avoid debt, is to buy used cars instead of new. But once you decide that used is for you, there’s a second way to potentially save thousands of dollars — buy privately instead of from a dealer. There are plenty of [Keep reading]
Features
Student loans to blame for the college tuition ‘bubble?’ Does federal aid help or hurt?
Do student loans help students or colleges? A new paper published by the New York Federal Reserve makes a clear, and depressing assertion: Federal student loans and grants are often simply gobbled up by schools through tuition inflation, leaving the students no better off. More dollars chasing the fewer goods [Keep reading]
Features
Another unintended consequence of plastic bag tax — your waistline? Reusable bags don’t mean license to ‘cheat’
Making environmentally-friendly consumer choices is hard. Really, really hard. It’s great and even inspiring that people think as hard as they do about the planet, even when the individual choices they make might not be as beneficial as they believe. (Yes, this story will talk about plastic grocery bag taxes, [Keep reading]
The Restless Project
Most people think they check their smartphones less than others; they’re (not) dreaming
Half of all smartphone owners check their phones a few times per hour or even more, and most keep their phones by their side all day, every day….yet most think they look at their phones less than their friends. In the latest “everyone can’t be better-than-average looking” finding, a new Gallup [Keep reading]