We should be used to this by now. Yet another money grubbing directive has surfaced from mother eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), As covered in a story in The New York Times, eBay has decided to test market the strategy of allowing payment for transactions on its site solely through its wanton money portal, PayPal. The company intends to run this test on Australian eBayers. I wonder if our mates Down Under would be willing to tell us how they feel about this strategy?

eBay is claiming that this change in operating procedure will lower the incidences of fraud on the site. That's funny coming from them, when you consider that the worst eBay fraud nightmares generally run through its own PayPal system. I can believe that eBay's own fraud exposure might be cut by funneling everything through PayPal, but that's about eBay's bottom line. It's not about the bottom lines of its loyal patrons. The matter is further examined in this Associated Press article.

BloggingStocks reports that, as it stands right now, PayPal collects 2.9% from every sale which runs through its system in the U.S., plus another .30 cents for any sale under $3,000. The picture gets even gloomier for Australian eBayers, where PayPal charges 4.4% on sales, plus the additional .30 cents. What percentage of eBay Australia's sales currently run through alternate payment means? That's what I want to know.

If this change is enacted by eBay against the entirety of it's operations, it will be just one more step in the inevitable creation of "Wal-Bay", a site where large volumes of foreign made junk will be peddled by a thin crust of well protected sellers. In the meantime, alternate online selling strategies continue to take hold and grow as eBay's own growth has stalled. eBay can fake revenue growth for just so long. It's only a matter of time before things really start to get ugly over there.

Last month I shared my quest to save money by reviewing our cell phone bill. I found that we could get unlimited texting on all of our lines without any increase in our monthly rate. This was a huge deal since my sister was as familiar with text overages as the Cookie Monster is with cookies! Due to the amount of texts already sent I decided to do something I should have avoided, I switched plans mid billing cycle. Most places this wouldn't be a huge deal, but Verizon's billing system is arranged to maximize confusion for users and profit for the company.

Since the switch occurred mid month Verizon pro-rated the text message plan on my sister's phone. Normally this means I get some money refunded and it only appears that I was ripped off on the bill. This time however was different. Even though the plan she was on was for 1,500 text messages and we switched to an unlimited plan Verizon decided that the allotment of messages at the time we switched was 913, which just happened to be 403 below what she had already sent resulting in a huge overage.

News reports say that as the number of mortgage foreclosures increases, so do the number of "suspicious" fires. When the fire occurs mere days before a homeowner will be forced to leave their house due to foreclosure, it obviously creates suspicion.

Some homeowners do it to get revenge on the mortgage company or bank. Others do it thinking that they will collect insurance money that can be used to prevent the foreclosure. Check out this video on setting houses on fire, especially in areas with higher rates of foreclosure.


Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

The Associated Press lead tells you pretty much everything you need to know:

A New York City man is suing JetBlue Airways Corp. for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California.

Manhattanite Gokhan Mutlu is suing the budget airline after the pilot told him to vacate his seat and "go hang out in the bathroom" for 90 minutes because the flight attendant had complained that her seat was uncomfortable, according to court papers. When the plane hit turbulence and the pilot directed passengers to return to their seats, "the plaintiff had no seat to return to, sitting on a toilet stool with no seat belts," according to his suit. That could've gotten messy!

This was one of those stories that's so ridiculous I can't think of anything to say. Perhaps JetBlue, which prides itself on its no-frills service with low prices, should begin offering discounted fares for passengers willing to sit on the toilet.

If the allegations outlined in the lawsuit are even remotely accurate, some people at JetBlue definitely need to lose their jobs.

Just when you finished setting up the final Viagra and ED related keyword filters on your inbox, the scamming spammers have found a new ruse to part fools with their money. The new scam claims to offer a discount of 70 cents on each gallon of gas and originate for now anyway, from an individual representing himself as "Gas Saver." According to McAfee, a security and anti-virus company, in terms of volume gas related spam is still relatively low, but it has the potential to skyrocket over the summer in tandem with gas prices.

Next time you sit down with a friend or relative, do your part; remind them that they shouldn't purchase medication, gas or lottery winnings from an email. It seems to have been said again and again but just like the MPAA and the RIAA run their public service announcements before movies; maybe we need to have an announcement before sending money from your bank to another account. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, especially when it comes to reduced gas prices.

I truly wonder how many times local news stations and papers need to run the story of an individual scammed out of their life savings due to an email that touted a too-good-to-be-true scheme. At the very least, it seems these email-armed con men are on the ball when it comes to identifying consumer needs, or perceived needs anyway. I hear later this year they are coming out with a reprinted version of Dante's Inferno which has been updated to include a new circle of hell specifically for spammers. Until then, be sure to check out how to get gas for $2.99 a gallon for the next three years legitimately.

Recently we discussed the LifeLock identity theft protection services, and whether or not the services offered are nothing more than a scam. Our readers have varying opinions, and I ultimately came to the conclusion that what LifeLock sells is not worth the money. There's very little actual protection, and the company's "guarantee" doesn't seem to be worth the paper it's printed on.

Now Lifelock has announced two new service offerings. The company says it is approaching one million "members" and these services "... will further secure LifeLock's position as the industry leader in identity theft protection." The new "eRecon" service is billed as a technology solution that monitors over 10,000 websites, bulletin boards and chat rooms used by criminals to sell and trade identities. If your information is found, the company say it will call and tell you. The "TrueAddress" service is billed as a technology solution that monitors address databases and notifies you if your address is changed in one of them.

Sounds like a lot of hype and little substance. What do you think the chances are that they're going to find valuable information about you with either of these tools? Would you really pay for the miniscule chance that they might find someone in a chat room talking about your identity? The effectiveness of these services has to be sketchy. I don't know how much they're going to charge for them, but I sure wouldn't buy them.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

With budgets stretched thin, several states are considering letting inmates out of prison early to save money. Even though they may be more likely to commit new crimes, politicians are saying the cost of those crimes is far less than the cost to keep the prisoners locked up.

One argument in favor of letting prisoners out early suggests that those in prison for things like "minor drug offenses" aren't a danger to society and should not have been locked up in the first place. That's a nice thing to say, but where's the proof that there are people in prison "only" for "minor" drug offenses?

Where I come from, you have to commit an awful lot of crimes to actually end up in prison. And that minor drug offense? The only way it's going to get you into prison here is if you've already got a double digit rap sheet. As a former probation officer, I can't tell you how many times I've seen judges try everything they could to avoid sentencing a criminal to prison.

Consumers have rights when it comes to fraudulent credit card charges or charges for products and services that aren't what they paid for. The key to successfully challenging a charge is in knowing what to say and who to tell. That sounds elementary, right? Except Consumer Reports is saying that many consumers don't know their rights or how to enforce them.

Small dollar amounts are easy to dispute and resolve, as it's estimated that it costs a credit card company $25 for each charge it must investigate. This means they're likely to give refunds for small amounts without much work. It would cost more to investigate than to just give you your money. The credit card company also has to weigh the risk that you will close your account if your matter isn't resolved. They lose money when you do that.

Here are a few key points about your credit card: Report suspicions of credit card immediately to stop the harm. Most billing problems need to be disputed in writing, and many credit card companies don't recognize e-mail as "in writing." The credit card company must receive your letter within 60 days from the statement date, so don't wait. Include with your letter all copies of supporting documentation to help prove your claim.

Several days ago, the 30th anniversary of spam came and went.

We're talking email, and not Spam, the food product. Anyway, I looked at quite a few articles that ran on the day of the anniversary May 3 or around then, like this story that originally appeared in The Washington Post, and I can't find any that quoted the man who began it all, Gary Thuerk. I was particularly interested in what he might have to say because I was lucky enough to interview him for Entrepreneur magazine during the 25th anniversary of spam.

At the time, I was getting more spam than I ever had in my life. I get a lot now, but in 2003, I was bombarded, and my computer was riddled with viruses and Trojan horses and other fun things. So when I was assigned to interview Thuerk, I had a lot of choice words prepared for him. I was going to light into him like a barbecue. I couldn't wait to pummel him with my gratitude for what he did on May 3, 1978, which is to be the first to send an unprompted email to a small but select number of people who had email, and he tried to sell these elite computer users, naturally, a new type of computer. I admit I wasn't thinking like a professional, but had made this personal. I wanted to do my best 60 Minutes Mike Wallace impression, and for Thuerk to fold like a house of cards and apologize for unleashing such a rotten practice into the world.

When I first heard about LifeLock last year, I was very intrigued by its service. I was especially interested in how it advertised the services: With the company's CEO telling everyone his social security number.

The company "guarantees" that your identity will never be stolen, and it offers a "$1,000,000 Service Guarantee." If you sign up for LifeLock, it will set up fraud alerts for you with each of the three credit bureaus. It will also have your name removed from pre-approved credit card offers and junk mail lists, and it has the credit bureaus each send you a credit report once a year.

LifeLock has a WalletLock service to help you if you lose your wallet. It will help cancel accounts and help you if your credit cards are used fraudulently. And if your identity is ever stolen while you're using LifeLock, it says it will hire lawyers and investigators to help "recover your good name."

Sounds good, right?

Over on BloggingStocks, I've written about Barry Minkow's allegations of fraud at multi-level marketing giant Herbalife.

Here on WalletPop, I thought it might be worth taking a look at Herbalife -- especially its recruiting tactics -- from the personal finance perspective.

On the Herbalife webpage, there's a form you can fill out to receive more information about becoming an Herbalife distributor. Among the questions:

How much would you like to earn monthly?
An extra $500
An extra $1,000
An extra $2,000
The sky's the limit!

You don't have to look very far to find instances of blatantly misleading but still legal advertising in the automotive industry. Even though most dealers clearly disclose how the deal works, the result is that car ads are obfuscatory and require very careful reading.

My favorite (or least favorite) example of deliberately confusing car advertising is the ol' "price reflects down payment and/or trade-in."

Here's an example of how this works in action. Sutherlin Nissan of Fort Myers advertises a 2003 Corvette priced at $24,988, with the caveat (in much smaller print) that "all prices are after your $2000 down payment."

Think about that. This dealer (and many, many other dealers that use the same tactics) are telling you that the car costs $24,988, not including another $2,000. Wouldn't it be more forthright to just say that the car costs $26,988? To my knowledge, the car industry is the only business that uses this tactic. Can you imagine if the flyer for the grocery store advertised "99 CENT VITAMIN WATER!" with an asterisk indicating that "price advertised does not include the other 50 cents that you have to pay for the drink"?

I know that these companies aren't doing anything illegal in their advertising. But to me, it's misleading enough that I wouldn't even consider buying from that dealer.

According to Pastor Steve Munsey on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in the clip below, God apparently created "...seed in their hand with their income tax." And apparently we should give that income tax money straight to Pastor Munsey. He says you can "start giving your way out of trouble." Give Pastor Munsey money, get out of trouble. Sounds good to me! Where do I send the check?

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

PrePaid Legal Services and companies like it sell plans that are billed as "legal insurance." These plans supposedly help the average consumer received "free" legal services in many cases, and discounted services in other cases. They're often marketed as offering help to the "little guy" who might otherwise not be able to afford a lawyer.

The truth? These plans offer very little real help to consumers. Many types of cases are excluded under the plans, so you won't be receiving any "free" services related to them. If you do happen to qualify for services, you'll find out quickly that the services are very limited and are mostly only for time spent on trial. Many hours of legal services will be needed prior to the trial, but most of this is excluded from the plans, and plan participants will have to pay out of their pockets for those services.

More details in this video. (Disclosure: I was paid by Fraud Discovery Institute to help research the issues raised in this video.)



Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

The economy isn't the only thing getting a (alleged) boost from the government's economic stimulus checks, being sent out to taxpayers beginning this past week. The political windfall is also stimulating a lot of creative fraud as well.

According to story on MarketWatch, scammers are calling and emailing consumers posing as the IRS or the Social Security Administration. The callers tell consumers they need detailed bank account information or Social Security numbers in order to process their economic stimulus checks. Those consumers who fall for the scam and reveal this information are then subject to identity theft.

The story recommends some steps consumers can take to prevent getting so scammed.