ripoff

No credit check, low weekly payments and carry it home today? If you think rent-to-own stores' deals are too good to be true, you're right. They're a ripoff that leave unwary consumers paying the equivalent of up to 311% interest, according to a new investigation by Consumer Reports.

The recent fleecing of a Consumer Ally reader by a bogus online lender underscores a basic rule of the road when trying to avoid getting scammed: Never, ever wire money to someone you don't know. The victim, whom we'll call Miranda due to her wish to remain anonymous, learned that painful lesson...

With much of the Midwest and East Coast still reeling from recent storms, officials say unethical contractors are taking advantage of consumers who hire them to clear snow and ice from roofs. As the flakes fall, roof snow removal services appear on flyers, neighborhood bulletin boards and on...

Scammer ingenuity knows no bounds. In 2010, as in years past, more criminals are taking the trouble to craft schemes, fudge websites, and get rich digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Top_10_scams_in_2010_you_might_get_taken_by_2'; off the tight economy and the consumer...

A congressman accused the biggest TV advertiser of cash for jewelry, Cash4Gold, of "systematically ripping off" its customers and rapped its executive for refusing to explain the company's practices to a congressional committee. "The way they function is truly exploitative of consumers," said Rep....

I must be really important, because two "Who's Who" publications have chosen me for inclusion in their publications. The e-mails arrived in my mailbox this week. They read, "Recently you were selected as an inductee into Who's Who. In spite of this, we have yet to receive your information in...

BlueHippo.com, which markets itself as a way for the credit-challenged to buy a new computer and other electronics, has been ripping off its customers and should be ordered to stop, the Federal Trade Commission told a federal judge today. "BlueHippo is a company with a business model based on...

Consumers have more to complain about, but the agencies they are complaining to have fewer resources with which to help them, a national survey found. A lot of problems people are having, the survey said, were directly related to the country's sour economy."It's ironic that at the same time that...

Nearly 45% of people reporting being scammed were ripped off using a phony check scheme -- by far the largest type of fraud reported in the first six months of this year, according to the National Consumers League. The average dollar loss in that type of scam: $3,178.The group said top-reported...

The FBI is warning senior citizens to protect themselves with reverse mortgage deals on the sharp increase and the number of scams increasing along with them. Since 1999, reverse mortgages have increased by 1,300%, the FBI said. Reverse mortgages, also called Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, are...