Too bad our government is so corrupt that it can't stamp out stuff like this too. I mean, not only do we not prosecute them, we make them a legitimate religion? Crazy.

Duh.

Tags: Good Stuff, Money Cult, Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks

It turns out that Comcast thinks they have the right to control how someone uses the Internet. Bittorrents, often, but not always used to distribute copyrighted content is one of the types of filesharing that big nasty companies like the RIAA target. Whether in the spirit of cooperation with the RIAA or just to save a little money by preventing heavy Internet users from actually using the Internet, Comcast is throttling Bittorrent shares and actually blocking seeders (people who provide the content originally). If this disgusts you, now is a good time to become a supporter of net neutrality. Tags: Consequences, If You Only Knew, Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks

I don’t know how they get away with calling these non-profit. The Consumerist calculates that the interest being paid by their example case is still at 252%. Tags: Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks

Whenever you get something like this, always go to the source, never respond to the e-mail. Tags: Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks

Consumeraffairs has been watching the banking industry with increasing shame. Banks realize how easy it is to "encourage" customers to make banking mistakes that end up in costly fees: Note that these are concious, purposeful acts designed to bring more debt to the consumer. Let me explain one of the scenarios above: You make the following purchases during the day: Your account balance: $70 (It's almost payday, you're running low)

Sandwich: $5

Starbucks Coffee: $10

Socks, Flowers, and a DVD movie (you're at Walmart… One stop shopping): $35

Eggs and Milk: $5

Little do you realize, your wife has decided to go ahead an fill up the SUV for the weekend trip.

Gas: $65

Now, assuming that the bank takes care of all transactions at the end of the day, what's the most advantagous way for them to do this? Easy! Apply all debits in order of size. Watch what happens: And to add insult to injury, maybe you got paid that day and deposited the money, but the bank held the deposit until the next day for no reason that you can think of (also part of their bag of tricks). So in this case, the bank's artificial policy of applying drafts in size order has hurt you plenty. If you complain (if) then there's a chance they'll reverse one charge as a matter of customer service. That still leaves you with a $60 debt to the bank. Compare it with this scenario where it was done in the order the drafts occured: In this case you have one overdraft fee due to a simple mistake. Chances are the bank will credit it and you and your wife can make sure you don't make the same mistake twice when the balance is low. Life is happy and birds sing… Anyway, you see how banks, who know a whole lot more about money management than you, can make very little and innocent csounding policy changes that will screw you royally. Let's hope that the bill that Consumeraffairs mentions in the article passes to end this kind of crap. Lastly, a freebie for you. If you are the kind of person who frequently finds themselves paying overdraft fees, try this trick I learned in my more "cash desperate" days: Tags: Consequences, If You Only Knew, Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks

I almost hesitated to get involved in promoting this kind of story since cults can be very scary, but I think cowardice only encourages villains. In any case, I think that masquerading as a religion for monetary reasons is about the lowest you can get and that's exactly what scientology is (and fortunately, the German government knows it). Of course they do. Anyway, it would simplify things a lot if the American government automatically rejected all claims for religion status for groups that have secrecy as one of their core beliefs. No true religion has secrets. Only scams where they know there's no way you'll swallow the whole enchilada until you've been properly "conditioned" at the lower levels. JTAG ERROR: No digg_ht index defined Tags: Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks

Rebates (which are a scam to begin with in most cases) are now being returned as gift cards. Not only does this force you to spend the money back at the store, but they come with all the nastiness that gift cards do. Things like fees, expiration dates, etc.

Tags: Gift Cards, Rebates, Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks

It's not as good as West Virginia(who banned all payday lending), but Oregon has taken a first important step to contain the evil that is payday lending.

I like this line too:

Hear, hear.

Tags: Payday Loans, Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks

This is an interesting story: An Iraq War veteran is making trouble by being a very loud and media-covered opponent of the war.

They seem to have found an angle to attack him because he put on a uniform for a protest (though by stripping all the major labels from it, I don't see how that's any different than a costume store uniform). They plan to reactivate him so they can discharge him again only this time "dishonorable discharge" instead of "honorable".

Tags: Military, Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks

Be warned. No matter how nice, not matter how much they already know, no matter how much they try to upset you, don't give out information over the phone.

Tags: Scams - Ripoffs - Dirty Tricks