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November 30, 2023

52 – Shop Safely Online This Holiday Season

Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): John Breyault - A Vice President at the National Consumers League; Melissa Lanning Trumpower - Executive Director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust
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While convenient, online shopping can be risky. E-commerce creates all sorts of new opportunities for cyber criminals to do their dirty work, so you need to be careful. U.S. consumers reported losing $358 million to online scams last year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

In this episode, we talk to John Breyault, a vice president at the National Consumers League, and Melissa Lanning Trumpower, executive director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, about how to spot the tricks con artists use to fool you and how you can protect yourself. Also, the smart way to pay when shopping online, and how to fight back against porch pirates.

Additional Resources:

⁠Tips for reducing your risk of fraud this holiday shopping season⁠

⁠BBB Scam Tracker⁠ is a free tool anyone can use to report suspected scams. Your reports warn others so they can avoid similar cons.

Fraud victims can report scams to the ⁠National Consumers League’s Fraud.org website⁠. This information is shared with a network of 100 law enforcement partners across the U.S. and Canada.

Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support

Related Episodes

March 6, 2025

81 – Algorithms Secretly Control Your Financial Fate

Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Susan Weinstock - CEO of Consumer Federation of America; Jennifer Chien - senior policy counsel, Consumer Reports’ financial fairness team

An increasing number of important decisions about your life are now made by computer algorithms and artificial intelligence. They do more than suggest movies or music you might like—they’re making lending decisions for banks and screening job applicants for employers.

Consumer advocates acknowledge the benefits of AI, but they’re also concerned about the potential harm. They want lawmakers and regulators to put guardrails in place to protect consumers.

In this episode, the many ways companies are now using algorithms and AI, how these powerful computer programs make the marketplace less transparent—and, in some cases, less fair—and how the massive amount of data being collected and used to make decisions about lending, employment, housing, and insurance coverage can infringe on privacy rights.

Not a Checkbook member? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for a free 30-day trial to access all of our unbiased ratings⁠⁠⁠⁠.

February 20, 2025

80 – Debt Busters: Real-Life Success Stories

Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Jonathan Unverzat & Johnika Nixon - debt counseling success stories; Lara Ceccarelli - NFCC certified credit counselor with American Financial Solutions in Bremerton, Washington

Americans are piling on credit card debt at an alarming pace, and the unprecedented interest rates on these unpaid balances can be as much as 30% to 35%. No wonder it seems impossible to get out from under it.

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Not a Checkbook member? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for a free 30-day trial to access all of our unbiased ratings⁠⁠⁠⁠.

December 12, 2024

76 – Fake Reviews Are Everywhere

Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Jason Brown – founder of ReviewFraud.org; Michael Ostheimer – Federal Trade Commission; Teresa Muray, Consumer Watchdog at U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Great reviews are good for business, so some dishonest companies post fake reviews to boost their ratings. It’s a growing problem. This flood of deceptive reviews makes it challenging to get objective information about the products or services you plan to buy.   

In this episode: The ways companies can game the system, a new FTC rule designed to clean-up the marketplace, and ways you can spot potentially bogus reviews and testimonials. 

More Info from U.S. PIRG:  

⁠How to recognize fake online reviews of products and services⁠ 

Additional Resources from Checkbook: 

⁠Shop Safely Online This Holiday Season (and All Year Long)⁠  

⁠Shop Like a Pro This Holiday Season: Score the Best Prices with Less Stress⁠  

⁠Don’t Overspend This Holiday Shopping Season⁠  

Not a Checkbook member? ⁠⁠Sign up for a free 30-day trial to access all of our unbiased ratings⁠⁠. 

Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support

November 27, 2024

75 – Checkbook’s College of Consumer Knowledge #1

Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Dave Ross & Colleen O’Brien, morning anchor team at Seattle’s KIRO Newsradio

We’ve come up with a fun way to celebrate our 75th episode: An old-fashioned radio quiz show, featuring the morning anchors at KIRO Newsradio in Seattle. Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien are old friends, who have Herb as a regular guest each week, so we had a lot of fun doing this.

Play along with Dave and Colleen as they try to come up with the right answers. ⁠You might also want to play the online version of Checkbook’s College of Knowledge⁠.

Not a Checkbook member? ⁠⁠Sign up for a free 30-day trial to access all of our unbiased ratings⁠⁠.

Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support

November 14, 2024

74 – Passkeys Provide Better Security Than Passwords

Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Alex Weinert - Vice President for Identity Security at Microsoft

No one really likes passwords. Even the best ones are no match for today’s international crime rings. So, the push is on, led by Microsoft, Apple, and Google, to get you to switch from passwords to passkeys.

In this episode: What passkeys are and how they work, why they are better than passwords, and how you can switch to them on your online accounts.

Additional Resources & Consumerpedia Episodes:

⁠Why It’s Time to Ditch Passwords and Switch to Passkeys⁠

#5: CyberCrime: a Former Cyber Crook Explains How to protect Yourself

#11: Stop, Thief! How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

#48: How Will Scammers Use AI?

Not a Checkbook member? ⁠Sign up for a free 30-day trial to access all of our unbiased ratings⁠.

Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support

October 31, 2024

73 – Checkbook’s Holiday Shopping Tips 2024

Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Jamie Lettis - Checkbook's Associate Editor; Edgar Dworsky - Publisher, Consumerworld.org; Amy Nofziger - AARP Fraud Watch Network, Bruce McClary - National Foundation for Credit Counseling

The hectic holiday shopping season is underway, and for many, that will put a strain on the family budget. Checkbook wants to make this stressful time a little easier.

Our annual holiday helper is packed with timely advice: Super shoppers share tips about how they find the best prices and avoid fake sales. Plus, how to avoid gift card scams, stop porch pirates, and spot bogus online shipping notices. Also, the pros and cons of buy now, pay later loans.

Additional Consumerpedia Episodes & Resources:

Checkbook’s Top Holiday Shopping Tips

Don’t Overspend This Holiday Shopping Season

#59: Saving Money at the Supermarket

#58: Misleading Marketing Gets You to Buy Now and Pay More

#57: Whatever Happened to Customer Service?

#52: Shop Safely Online This Holiday Season

#26: Sale Prices Are Rarely Real Deals

Not a Checkbook member? ⁠Sign up for a free 30-day trial to access all of our unbiased ratings⁠.

Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support

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