Comsumer Psychology

Here are a few more items from the Atlantic's The 11 Ways That Consumers Are Hopeless at Math.

You can be influenced (we do what we're told):
When a restaurant highlights an item with a photo or outlined in a box or printed in bold, you can bet that the item is good for the restaurant's profit line. It may be a fine item but be aware of the subtle influence and make up your own mind.

It's not Fair!
There's a classic experiment that demonstrated that people are not the rational actors that Economists thought they were. Person A is shown $10. He/She must decide how much to share with person B in a take-it-or-leave-it deal. If Person B nixes the deal, no one gets any money; A and B get nothing unless B is pleased with the deal.
Under a rational model B should agree to any amount greater than zero. A free penny is still a free penny and B is ahead. But that is not what happened. Instead most B's voted with their feelings and vetoed the deal if they felt it was not a fair split like 50-50.

Our minds do funny things when it comes to fair value.

In another experiment a person was told, you have a ticket for a play worth $20 and a $20 bill in your pocket. When you arrive at the play you find the ticket is missing. Do you buy another ticket?  Many people said no. I guess they felt they had paid once and refused to pay again or didn't want to throw good money after bad? 
In a second experiments the subjects are told they have two $20's. When they arrive at a play they want to see, they find one of the 20's is missing. Would they still spend the remaining $20 to buy a ticket? Most people said yes. They felt that the missing $20 had nothing to do with the decision to buy a ticket or not. There was no correlation. And yet, financially the two test cases are exactly the same. An item worth $20 was lost.

The Atlantic tells this story,

[Economist Dan] Ariely pretended he was giving a poetry recital. He told one group of students that the tickets cost money and another group that they would be paid to attend. Then he revealed to both groups that the recital was free. The first group was anxious to attend, believing they were getting something of value for free. The second group mostly declined, believing they were being forced to volunteer for the same event without compensation.

It's all a matter of perception.

Item's with 9's sell better. We may think $19.99 is a silly price but our mind locks onto the first digit '1' and we know in our gut that '1' is less than the '2' in $20.00.

"In the number 9, the bargain-hunter/discount-gatherer corner of our brain spots a pluckable deal."

Rebates and Warranties are money makers for business

"The first buys the illusion of wealth ("I'm being paid money to spend money!"). The second buys peace of mind ("Now I can own this thing forever without worrying about it!"). Both are basically tricks."

Business is counting on you to forget to submit the rebate form or to forget to follow-up if the rebate never arrives. As for Warranties, they are rarely collected upon so it's just extra money for the company for doing nothing.

Will that be Debit or Credit?

The Consumerist describes 5 Situations Where You Shouldn't Use A Debit Card,

1. When shopping online or making a large purchase:
   If you use a credit card you may be able to dispute a damaged or missing item from your order through your credit card company. Some credit cards also offer extended warranties.
2. While traveling:
   Some credit cards offer services when traveling like insurance coverage and concierge services.
3. When worried about begin ripped-off:
   With a debit card you must report fraud within two business days of discovering the problem or you can lose up to $500. With credit cards, you're loss is limited to $50 for unauthorized purchases.
4. When you want to raise your credit score.
   Debit cards won't help your credit history.
5. When you want to earn money on purchases.
   Most debit cards are cutting back on rewards to save money.

I'd rather be phishing?

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to phish and you feed him for a lifetime."
- paraphrasing a Chinese Proverb

Phishing is the act of catching unwary users of email and tricking them into giving personal information or clicking on a link for the purpose of installing malware or other nefarious actions. Phisherman are never so crude as to say, hey look, you don't know me but click here please. Instead they pretend to be someone you know having already stolen your friends email address book, or pretend to be a legitmate business that you deal with, or provide some incredible other that is too good to pass up.

• Never open or reply to any e-mail when you are unsure of the sender.
• If it is too good to be true - it is.
• E-mails that appear to come from a known entity (like your bank, the government, someone from your old high school, etc), often are spoofed e-mails and do not come from them at all.  
• If you see an e-mail from your bank - sign into your account directly from the official website - NEVER follow the helpful link they send you. That helpful link will take you to a fake website that will save your account # and password for later theft.
• If you get an e-mail notice from the government about your tax info, think about it. How did they get your e-mail address? And the IRS does not use email; they send you a nicely registered letter requesting your presence at an audit.

The internet is seeing a continuing dramatic rise of e-mails designed to fool you into action; and it does work or they would not be doing it.  Some of the most recent tricks are:

• Notices of copyright/trademark infringement
• Notices from the BBB about a complaint
• Notices from banks requesting an update of some kind or another
• Notices about problems with an electronic check/deposit (ACH)
• Notices from the Government looking for you to update your tax data
• Notices about problems with your tax return 
• E-Mails from old friends (they get that data from Facebook, Linkedin, etc, etc...)
• E-Mails asking you to help a friendly prince get his inheritance out of a country controlled by an unfriendly tyrannical government
• etc, etc, etc...

Bottom Line

This is nothing new - just a reminder to practice safe computing. Below is a screenshot of e-mail quarantined by one person in one morning; you can clearly see  examples of phishing.

The Top 25 Worst Passwords

"To err is human, to really foul things up requires a computer."
~Bill Vaughan, 1969

Web site Internet Crime Complaint Center's (IC3) and other sites have published a list of the worst passwords. A study was done on a list of millions of stolen passwords posted on-line by hackers and here are the top 25 passwords found in the list.

1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football
Bottom Line

If you use any of these passwords, change it now. Here's some advice on creating a good password:
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2011/05/passwords.html

(Lack of) Computer Security

Treat your password like your toothbrush. Don't let anybody else use it, and get a new one every six months.
~Clifford Stoll

If you use Google news you can customize it to include specialized topics of interest. One of my news "extras" is Computer Security and recently it was full of depressing news about serious security violations

Medical Record Theft At Sutter Health
Information stolen on more than 4 million patients of a major Northern California health care provider. What's unusual about this incident is not some clever hacker but a thief who broke a window with a rock and stole a PC containing patient records.

"Over the last two years, health care organizations have reported 364 incidents involving the loss or theft of information ranging from names and addresses to Social Security numbers and medical diagnoses on nearly 18 million patients – equivalent to the population of Florida."

Water utility hackers destroy pump, expert says
Hackers may have destroyed a pump used by a US water utility after gaining unauthorized access to the industrial control system. Many industrial control systems rely on passwords that are hard-coded and it looks like Russian hackers stole the password from the company that made the equipment. The hackers (after much experimenting) managed to burn out a water pump by rapidly turning it on and off. One expert noted, “These things are connected to the Internet in ways they shouldn't be.”

This is "a really big deal".

Hackers attack Norway's oil, gas and defence businessesIndustrial secrets and information about contract negotiations had been stolen from at least 10 firms according to Norway's National Security Agency (NSM). Normally attacks like this would be kept secret but the NSM wants to world to know about these very skillful hackers.

"The attackers won access to corporate networks using customised emails with viruses attached which did not trigger anti-malware detection systems. ...  the email messages had been sent to specific named individuals in the target firms and had been carefully crafted to look like they had come from legitimate sources."

Facebook admitted that hackers are breaking into hundreds of thousands of Facebook accounts every day.
"Don’t use the same password and username combination for multiple websites. Use an online password manager to keep track of your different accounts."

Bottom Line

Hacking is not just nerdy teens having fun at your expense. There is money to be made selling identity information and there are government sponsored hackers (Russia, China) seeking weakness for cyber-warfare or corporate espionage.

Check out this article on the 25 worst passwords
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8898482/25-worst-web-passwords.html

Update
Recent news is claiming that the Utility pump was a false alarm. No proof that hackers destroyed it. Perhaps. But the risk is real and it is only a matter of time before real damage is done by hackers.

When to Call your Credit Card Company

Remember that credit is money
- Benjamin Franklin

MSN Money suggests there are seven occasions when you should always call your credit card company.

1. When a new card arrives - most cards require a phone call to activate a new card
2. Unauthorized charge - if you see something on your credit card statement that does not make sense, call immediately. ALWAYS review your credit card statement line by line. You might have been enrolled in some monthly fee program by visiting a web site or responding to a text message on your phone. Or it could be fraud or identity theft. Years ago a restaurant changed the amount of the tip on my card to a higher value. That is illegal.
3. Lost card - If you're not sure where your card is it's safer to have it canceled and a new card number assigned.
4. Stolen card - call immediately to get the card canceled. File a police report and also notify the credit rating bureaus.
5. Change of Address - don't make the mistake of letting your bank and card statements go to an old address and into someone else's hands.
6. Missing credit card statement - if your monthly statement does not arrive on time, call. Someone can do a lot of damage if they steal your statement which contains card number, name, address, etc.
7. Before a vacation or big purchase - companies monitor cards for unusual activity and may shut it down if they suspect fraud. We have a friend who now lives in Florida but rents out his prior home in New York. While visiting New York to make house repairs, his card company froze his account because of all the "unusual activity" in New York. Before I traveled to Canada this summer I called my credit card companies to warn them about my travel plans. (And to find out their money conversion fees.)

Bottom Line

Credit cards are great to have when used responsibly. Card rates are outrageous so this is not the best way to obtain a "loan" when you're short of cash. Never pay just the minimum suggested - pay more, pay it all if you can.

How to Avoid Fraud after a Storm

“There is no recourse against hiring an unlicensed contractor. We're not saying anything about the good companies that come in to make a decent living, but unfortunately, there are the bad ones that try to come in and suck people's insurance checks and move on.”
- Larry Johnson

Last month FEMA published an alert about identify theft fraud after Tropical Storm Lee hit New York. Residents in Tioga County had encountered a potential fraudster canvassing neighborhoods claiming to be a “financial consultant” doing a survey for FEMA in a bid to obtain personal financial information.

FEMA notes that

Many legitimate persons -- insurance agents, FEMA Community Relations personnel, local inspectors and real contractors -- may have to visit a storm-damaged property. Survivors could, however, encounter people posing as inspectors, government officials or contractors in a bid to obtain personal information or collect payment for repair work. Your best strategy to protect yourself against fraud is to ask to see identification in all cases and to safeguard your personal financial information.

Be suspicious of anyone who:

• Has no proper identification (a shirt or jacket saying FEMA or some other org is NOT enough). Ask to see their photo laminated card.
• Wants your personal financial information
• Asks for cash to fill out a form or for an inspection.
• Demands cash or full payment up front for home repairs. Won't provide a contract.
• Is a contractor with no physical address on their card.
• Urges you to borrow to pay for repairs, then steers you to a specific lender or tries to act as an intermediary between you and a lender.
• Urges you to use a contractor they recommend
• Asks you to sign something you have not had time to review.

To avoid scams:

• Question strangers and demand to see identification
• Never give any personal financial information to an unfamiliar person
• Never sign any document without first reading it fully. Ask for an explanation of any terms or conditions you do not understand
• Do your own research before borrowing money for repairs. Compare quotes, repayment schedules and rates. If they differ significantly, ask why.

Bottom Line

For more information about avoiding charitable giving scams, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/05/homerepair.shtm

Online Photos

I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
- Paul Simon lyrics to Kodachrome

US News asks, "Is It Safe to Post Photos Online? It's a wonderful thing to share photos online but those photos can also be stolen and misused. Imagine your face used in an online dating service by someone not blessed with your good looks. Will friends believe you when you say, "But that's not me!"  Or your photo used by an advertiser without permission.

1. Check your online privacy settings.
Never allow everyone access to your photos. Restrict them to friends only.


2. Make sure you know who your friends are.
I have over 200 connections on LinkedIn. Are all these people really my friends? Do I trust every one of them? Consider de-friending anyone you don't trust 100%.

3. Disable the GPS technology before taking photos with a smartphone.
Even regular cameras are starting to apply GPS data to digital photos. When you post a photo with GPS data embedded, anyone can know where the photo was taken. Fun perhaps for a vacation photo but risky if the photo was taken at home.

4. Watch out for lower-tech ways of sharing too much personal information.
Your child's T-shirt could contain a school logo. Blur out your car license plate in any photos you post.

5. Don't post embarrassing photos.
Once posted, items on the internet may never die. Even dead websites can be brought back to life with http://wayback.archive.org/web/ or Google cache. Photo facial recognition is getting more and more powerful so in a few years it may be trivial for anyone to find online naked baby photos that match an adult face.

6. No means no.
If a friend or relative posts photos of your child and you don't want them to, ask them to take them down. If they refuse, some sites allow you to flag a photo as objectionable and taken down at your request.

7. Use a watermark.
Watermarks can be visible or invisible and will help prove that you own a photo if it's stolen and makes millions of dollars selling coffee. A watermark is an image or text that is mixed into the image itself.

Bottom Line

Share with friends but protect your photos.

10 Things You Shouldn't Keep in Your Wallet or Purse

What's in your wallet?
-Capital One slogan

Fox Business News lists 10 Things You Shouldn't Keep in Your Wallet or Purse.

1. Social Security Card
With your Social Security card a thief could open a credit card, apply for a loan, or even buy a car with the information. Memorize the nine digits instead.

2. Your Passport
A passport is a must if you're traveling internationally, but leave it in the hotel safe. When abroad, carry a photocopy of your passport for identification. "If you lose your passport or get mugged in a foreign country, it's such a horrible hassle. You have to go to the embassy, and it's a vacation nightmare."

If you're traveling in the U.S., carry only your driver's license.

3. Passwords/Pass codes
"If you store any type of ATM password or even a code for your home alarm in your wallet, you have basically gifted a thief with access to your life." If you must write them down, enter them in backwards or add one to each number so that 1234 becomes 2345. Use some kind of a code to alter the number that you will remember.

4. A Non-Password Protected Phone
Some smart phone applications allow instant access to bank accounts, PayPal accounts, medical records, and more. Even email on an unprotected phone could give a thief way too much information. Be sure to password protect your smart phone AND don't carry that password on you.

5. Your Checkbook
A checkbook has your bank account number and routing number on it, and your address.

6. Too Many Credit Cards
If you carry every credit card you own and your wallet is lost or stolen then you'll have to cancel every one. If you leave at least one card at home (in a safe place) you'll have a card you can use when the others are gone. Also make sure you keep photocopies of the front and back of each card at home; the back of most cards carries the 800 number for reporting a lost or stolen card.

7. Too Much Cash
Carry only as much cash as you're willing or able to afford to lose.

8. Gift Cards/Certificates
Gift cards and gift certificates are just like cash -- they don't require ID for use.

9. USB Devices
USB devices can be bad news in the hands of thieves if they contain confidential files.

10. Receipts
Some receipts have your credit card information on them, as well as your signature, which thieves could do a lot of damage with.

Bonus Item:
"It may sound silly, but if you're changing earrings ..., it's very possible you may forget and toss these things in the zipper compartment of your wallet. It would be horrible to get your wallet stolen any day, but if you're also losing your grandmother's earrings ..., it's even worse!"

Bottom Line

What's in your wallet? Does it contain anything besides a drivers license that a thief can use to steal your identity?

Local Produce

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master that’s all.”

 Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1872)

Are you a locavore? Someone who tries to buy and eat food that is grown locally? That's a great idea for saving energy and helping the local economy but there is just one problem? What does "local" mean?

Last October, Walmart announced a pledge to double the amount of produce it purchases from local growers by 2015. For Walmart "local" is defined as grown in the same state in which it is sold.

The Wall Street Journal asked three other grocery stores how they define local:

* Safeway (including Dominick's, Genuardi's, Von's, Randall's and others): Produce is "local" if the transportation to the store by truck takes eight hours or less.

* Kroger (including Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Fry's and others):  says local "can refer to produce grown in the same state or within the same region of the country."

* Supervalu (including most Albertsons stores, Acme, Shaw's Jewel-Osco and others): "local" can mean something different at each of the company's subsidiary brands.

Bottom Line

Beware of buzz words like lite, low-fat, and now "local". It can mean whatever the grocery store wants it to mean.

Smuggling Drugs in Unwitting People's Car Trunks

Woh, down in Mexico, I never really been so I don't really know.
And oh, Mexico, I guess I'll have to go.
-James Taylor, lyrics from Mexico

Schneier on Security has this is clever but scary story:

A few miles away across the Rio Grande, the FBI determined that Chavez and Gomez were using lookouts to monitor the SENTRI Express Lane at the border. The lookouts identified "targets" -- people with regular commutes who primarily drove Ford vehicles. According to the FBI affidavit, the smugglers would follow their targets and get the vehicle identification number off the car's dashboard. Then a corrupt locksmith with access to Ford's vehicle database would make a duplicate key. Keys in hand, the gang would put drugs in a car at night in Mexico and then pick up their shipment from the parked vehicle the next morning in Texas, authorities say.

A reader made an interesting comment at Schneier's site; with the duplicate key the smugglers could have easily stolen the cars. Apparently there is more money to be made in drug shipments than in selling a stolen car.

Bottom Line

People who smuggle goods are called mules and not every mule is aware that they are smuggling. Hence the questions at airports - did you pack your own bag? Did anyone give you something to carry on board? Etc.

Never leave your bags out of sight when traveling. A clever crook could slip something into your bag. They won't get caught when the illegal item is found on you. And if you do manage to get through the boarder, the crook or his/her accomplice will steal your bag on the other side.

Medical Myths

“Fire, water and government know nothing of mercy.”
- unknown

I just started a new lecture series on CD titled, Medical Myths, Lies, and Half Truths: What We Think We Know May Be Hurting Us. So far I've enjoyed the first disc. Much better than the prior series on the Dead Sea Scrolls which used a lot of words to say very little.

Amusingly the first topic on the Medical Myths was hiccups which I discussed two days ago in this blog. Dr. Novella dismisses all the folk remidies and says medical research only endorses three drugs and direct neural stimulation or blocking for serious cases of hiccups which won't stop.

His second lecture covers hydration - do we really need to drink 8 cups of water a day? No. An old government guideline recommended 64-80 oz of water a day. But 20% of this will come from the food you eat. This leaves 6 1/2 cups which most people will drink normally.

Does coffee and caffinated sodas count as water? Many say no, but the professor says yes. The caffine will cause more peeing but not enough to cancel out all the water in the beverage. So perhaps it can count as 80% of a cup?

Another tidbit. The higher the elevation, the drier the air. At 6000 ft you exhale twice as much moisture as normal. At 10,000 ft, three times as much. This explains why people who fly experience thirst and why dehyration is serious for hikers and climbers in the mountains.

Bottom Line

For more information see my earlier blog:
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-much-water-is-enough.html

Debtor's Prison

I saw a bank that said "24 Hour Banking," but I don't have that much time.
- Steven Wright

Here's a strange story. An IRS refund for $110,000 to an elderly woman in LA was sent to the wrong bank account. The man who received the funds immediately spent about $50,000 to save his home from foreclosure and pay off other bills. When caught he offered to pay back the remaining $65K to the woman with a monthly plan for paying the remainder but she rejected the plan as being too low. He's now in jail, facing a possible 4 years of prison time, for the felony of grand theft by misappropriation of lost property.

There are many red flags in this story:
1. A $100K refund? Why is someone with this kind of money doing her own taxes?

It is reported that she filed an old Citibank account number with the IRS for the refund. The account was closed in 2004 and the number later reassigned to a man in the story.

2. Why did Citibank reuse an old account number? That is terrible policy. How long did it wait before reassigning the number?

3. The woman rejected the deal to repay. Why in the world are the parties negotiating at all? Years ago my first automatic deposit paycheck in my new bank account was saved to the wrong account. The bank did not say, sorry, someone else spent your money. You better work out a deal with them. No the bank corrected their error. Likewise I would expect the IRS to pay the women her refund immediately and for the IRS to work with the man on recovering the misplaced funds. I suppose in this instance the IRS holds the woman responsible. They sent the money where she told them to send it.

4. Four years in jail? That seems harsh. I know the law says you can not spend the money in a bank error but come on. Work out a repayment plan with interest. Send him to jail if he violates the plan. With jail the government loses twice - it does not get the money back (unless that is part of the sentence) and it's spending money to keep him in jail.

5. The bail is set at $110,000, the exact amount of money misplaced.  Does the judge have a mean sense of humor?

Bottom Line

Just because money appears in your bank account, it is not yours to spend. If you can not explain the deposit (e.g. paycheck, etc.) then ask the bank where it came from before spending it.

The Ultimate Consumerist Guide To Fighting Back

A short post today as I point you to a long post for your consideration. The Consumerist has updated The Ultimate Consumerist Guide To Fighting Back which includes:

SECTION 1: "I'VE BEEN WRONGED! WHAT DO I DO NEXT?"

Step 1: Get things ready  (Write everything down)
Step 2: Educate yourself (What are your options?)
Step 3: Make the call

If the company will not fix the problem then,

SECTION 2: THE CONSUMERIST CORPORATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY
Executive emails for major corporations

SECTION 3: SUCCESS STORIES

Bottom Line

It can take months of phone calls and emails to right a wrong done by a company. You MUST keep a paper trail of every step, what was promised and what happened. Keep your cool; don't get mad. If all else fails try humor and unusual acts of protest like writing a song for YouTube, buying a classified ad with your complaint, twitter, web page, face book, etc.

What is that fish you're eating?

All men are equal before fish.
-Herbert Hoover

There are times when you may not care that fish you're eating like generic "white" fish or fish sticks. But other times you pay good money for mahi-mahi or wild salmon. How do you know you're getting the fish you pay for?

Researchers from the non-profit group Oceana applied the forensic science of DNA analysis to confirm that as much as half of all seafood sold in the U.S. is mislabeled. Scientists checked over a thousand fish samples across the country and found "disturbingly widespread" fraud.

"We can track organic bananas back to packing stations on farms in Central and Latin America, yet consumers are given little to no information about one of the most popular foods in the United States - seafood," said Dr. Michael Hirshfield, senior vice president for North America and chief scientist for Oceana"

The report found that while 84 percent of the seafood eaten in the United States is imported, only two percent is currently inspected for freshness and less than 0.001 percent specifically inspected for fraud.

Bottom Line

I recall a story of a man who complained that the bacon in his Cobb salad was fake. The waitress talked to the chef who replied, "If he wanted real bacon, he should have told us when he ordered".

What mailing method should you use?

“Mondays are the potholes in the road of life.”
- Tom Wilson

If you are involved in a dispute and you want to make sure that your letter is received, what type of mail should you use to counter the other party when they claim they never saw the letter?

According to Comsumerist.com, registered mail is not necessary, "that's just for shipping valuables that you want insurance on if they get lost."

"Instead send it by certified mail, which guarantees and tracks delivery, including date and time it was delivered. You can check on the status online and the post office keeps a record. Request an additional return receipt to get a signature back from the recipient"

Bottom Line

Return receipt is great way to prove that your mail was received and by whom.  Or you can show that delivery was refused.

Many years ago the radio had a story about lawyers trying to sue NYC for damage done to cars by potholes. NYC responded that they would only accept responsibility for negligence for not fixing holes in a timely manner that they were aware of, i.e. for potholes that they were "formally" told about.  So lawyers en mass began mailing the DPW with return receipt notices of every big pothole they saw. The city refused to sign the receipts or accept the letters.

Health Supplements

"Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them."

- Mahalia Jackson

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that 53% of all Americans use dietary supplements such as multivitamins, minerals and herbs. Sadly the 27 billion dollar supplement industry is not regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so supplement makers are not required to prove safety or effectiveness.

While many people think supplements make up for a poor diet, most doctors say there is no substitute for a healthy lifestyle. Research has show that some daily vitamin supplements just pass through the body and are barely absorbed, if at all. The body is more likely to retain vitamins and minerals when eaten in real food. There is also evidence that the body benefits from nutrients like lycopene, quercetin and indoles that give fruit and vegetables their bright colors and are not found in supplements (yet). Other health professionals disagree and argue that a daily multi-vitamin can help with trace minerals that your eating habits do not cover.

Be doubly careful when using herbal supplements. Many come from foreign countries and might not contain what they claim or in the dosage they claim. Always consult with a doctor first because herbs (and even multi-vitamins) may block or enhance medicines that you taking. Also ask your doctor about a safe dose level because sometimes more of a good thing (like vitamin D) can be deadly.

Bottom Line

A recent survey of parents by the YMCA found that only 14% of kids eat at least five fruits and vegetables a day. Even though 89% of parents rate themselves good or excellent in providing a healthy home environment, about a third of children in the USA are overweight. Only 16% say their kids are playing outside daily.

Resources

12 Supplements to Avoid
http://www.consumerreports.org/health/natural-health/dietary-supplements/supplement-side-effects/index.htm

Vitamin D
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2010/05/vitamin-d.html

Healthy Foods
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2010/05/healthy-foods.html

Vitamin Pills: A False Hope?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/health/17well.html?_r=1&8dpc

What to Shred

"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together."
- I am the Walrus, lyrics

Identity Theft is a terrible crime. A person can not just steal all your money, but leave you deep in debt and destroy your credit rating. As a Consumerist article notes,

"Leaving a building with a file folder with documents in it is a lot more innocuous if a third party sees them than if they're walking out of an apartment holding a TV or a DVD player. And the long-term payoff is a lot more"

At home we shred any junk mail or junk mail envelope that has our name on it. Especially shred credit card unwanted. applications. Shred old bills from doctors and documents outlining medical benefits to prevent others from using your insurance.

If you lose your wallet, call your insurer and let them know. Also call the police, your bank, every credit card, and the credit history companies. Without your wallet, how quickly can you find out what credit cards you carry and your ID number for each?  Never carry your Social Security card in a wallet or purse.

Beware also of high tech ID theft. If you do online banking at a public Wi-Fi spot, you could have your account and password stolen. Password protect your smart phone.

Bottom Line

Here are two sites for what to do if your identity is stolen.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/idtheft/idt07.shtm
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm

Misleading Food Packaging

"It happens every time, they all become blueberries."
- Willy Wonka

When I buy a cookbook (which is very rare now-a-days with recipes on the Internet) I want a book with lots of food photographs. I react to the photo with either, yum, I must cook that, or , nah, not interested. Naturally marketers of foods exploit this. They put the best possible picture on the box or label to make your mouth water. I blogged about this at http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2009/08/food-photography.html

I was reminded of this with NPR's story about fake blueberries, . The muffin mix box may show a muffin with plump, healthy, blueberries but the label lists blueberry flavored crunchlets. What is a blueberry crunchlet? They typically consist of various sugars and starches coated with food dye to make them look like blueberries.

When Kellog was asked, they responded that everything is "labeled in compliance with applicable laws and regulations."  No mention of course about faking out customers with misleading product photos.

Bottom Line

With product photos, what you see is never what you get. At worst the photo is fake; at best it's an idealized version of the product.

Debt Collectors

“Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you set about retiring them.” -Ogden Nash
Some debt collectors will do anything to collect from you including harassing your family, friends, coworkers, etc. But you have rights.

The Consumerist features several useful posts.

Let's begin with a sample letter that one should send immediately after first being contacted by a debt collector: http://consumerist.com/2007/07/sample-letter-for-disputing-a-debt-collection-notice.html

The letter asks for four things:

* (1) the amount of the debt;
* (2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;
* (3) Provide a verification or copy of any judgment (if applicable);
* (4) Proof that you are licensed to collect debts in (your state)

The letter goes on to mention...

* because I have disputed this debt in writing within 30 days of receipt of your dunning notice, you must obtain verification of the debt or a copy of the judgment against me and mail these items to me at your expense;
* you cannot add interest or fees except those allowed by the original contract or state law.
* you do not have to respond to this dispute but if you do, any attempt to collect this debt without validating it, violates the FDCPA;
...
Should you pursue a judgment without validating this debt, I will inform the judge and request the case be dismissed based on your failure to comply with the FDCPA.

What is debt validation? The collection agency needs to prove that they own the debt. They can claim that the debt was sold to them but you have the right to ask them to prove it. Often the proof is flimsy or wrong. There are many stories now of mortgage factories signing fraudulent papers assigning mortgage debt for illegal foreclosings.  The Consumerist recently featured a story of a of a collection agency forging the signature of a dead woman thousands of times to establish validation of ownership.
http://consumerist.com/2011/01/dead-woman-tried-to-collect-on-thousands-of-debts.html

Another debt right to be aware of is the Statute of Limitations. A company can not appear out of the blue and say you failed to pay a debt from 20 years ago.  Well actually they can (and will) say it, but will very likely lose in court if you challenge them. Each state has its own limit on when debts expire. See http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml for details.

Bottom Line

Search the Internet to know your rights. Read the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf

But if legal language makes your head spin, the FDCPA is explained here,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Debt_Collection_Practices_Act
and here
http://www.expertlaw.com/library/consumer/fair_debt_collection.html
and here
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm