Some scam stories hurt more than others. In this one, Janet lost her husband of 52 years, and days later, got a call from someone who claimed she worked with her husband’s former employer. There was a life insurance policy, the caller said, but there were unpaid premiums. As anyone [Keep reading]
Romance scams cost Americans $500 million each year, the FBI says. And the crime is soaring fast. Lonely people isolated at home during the pandemic are an attractive target for thee criminals. We’re currently exploring this awful phenomenon in a two-part podcast series at AARP’s The Perfect Scam. In last [Keep reading]
Wire fraud scams during real estate transactions are perhaps the most believable kind of digital con I’ve ever seen. Buying or selling homes is already an incredibly stressful time. Consumers are classic “tourists” in the land of title companies and wire transfers, vulnerable because everything feels unfamiliar. Add to that [Keep reading]
As most readers know, I have a dog named Rusty. I’m on my third rescue dog now. Lucky, Rusty’s older brother, played a big part in a lot of stories I’ve written, so I was really excited to talk with today’s guests in The Perfect Scam podcast, Danny and Alison, [Keep reading]
Jonathan Walton: So, unpleasant stuff. Mair Smyth: Okay. Jonathan Walton: You’ve been lying to us the whole time about everything Mair Smyth: About what? Jonathan Walton: The whole time. That was a lie. That last four grand you needed that came out of nowhere, that was a lie. You’ve [Keep reading]
“So, the Hollywood Reporter received a tip from Jonathan himself in, I believe it was August 2019. And I believe the subject line was something like, “Reality Producer Conned Out of $100,000 by ‘Irish Heiress Con Artist.’” And that, I mean the email had me at Irish Heiress Con Artist [Keep reading]
Most American adults have a credit score attached to their name. The score directly impacts each consumer’s cost of obtaining credit. Lower scores mean higher interest rates for credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, and so on. The same goes for if you are looking to buy a vehicle like a [Keep reading]
I’ll be doing some “Back to Basics” stories for the folks at Insedia.com. The series starts today with perhaps the most basic — but most important — element of personal finance in our credit-driven economy. Here’s my quick-and-dirty guide to dealing with your credit report. What is it and where [Keep reading]
Kristin Kalning called Wells Fargo bank with a simple issue last week — she wanted to change the mailing address on a small, decades-old IRA account. Instead, she was peppered with what she felt were overly aggressive questions about her personal financial situation, and told she couldn’t do anything with [Keep reading]
With the housing market steaming ahead like the housing bubble never happened, it’s easy to forget that about 7 million Americans lost their home during the recession. And I think it’s easy to forget what I believe was the biggest failure of the Obama administration. While banks got bailouts, homeowners [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan