Wiseman Inc., Jeremy West Took Deposits, Failed To Provide Housing To Prospective Renters
Prospective Renters Say Company Didn't Provide Refunds
 Several St. Louis area women say they feel deceived by Wiseman Inc. and Jeremy West, a landlord who took their deposits for apartments, but then failed to provide them housing. West owns several buildings in the Gravois Park neighborhood in St. Louis.
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BBB Responds To Good Friday Tornadoes In St. Louis
BBB Offers Advice On Donations To Relief Agencies, Avoiding Scams
 Less than a day after tornadoes pummeled homes and businesses across the St. Louis area on Good Friday, itinerant contractors descended on damaged neighborhoods in attempts to get desperate homeowners to hire them for cleanup and repair services. Pleas for donations to pay for relief efforts also began. The BBB also responded with advice on how to avoid scams and make wise donations.
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BBB Warns Consumers About 'Mass Joinder' Lawsuits
St. Peters Company Solicited Consumers In Missouri, Other States
The BBB warns homeowners to steer clear of mailings asking them to join national “mass joinder” lawsuits to force their mortgage companies to cut their loan payments. Michelle Corey, BBB president and CEO, says the mailings are a new twist on schemes to obtain up-front payments of $5,000 or more from homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages.
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BBB Shreds Nearly 22 Tons At 'Shred Day'
Record Turnout At Event Designed ID Protection Events
Consumers and businesses brought a record 43,818 pounds of paper and computer hard drives to the parking lots of Saint Louis Galleria and the Schnucks in Edwardsville on April 14 at 'Shred Day' events cosponsored by the BBB, the Missouri and Illinois Attorney General's offices, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Trade Commission. View a short video of the event at http://youtu.be/ZLH83kaypOA .
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Consumer Fraud Task Force Warns About Online Payday Loans
Task Force Calls Lenders 'Today's Loan Sharks'
 Online payday loans are marketed as a quick solution for short-term cash flow problems. The Consumer Fraud Task Force warns that the loans can trap consumers in the same cycle of debt and despair as brick-and-mortar lenders but with less protection from regulators.
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Tornadoes, Japanese Disaster Point Up Need To Prepare For Crises
Disaster Preparedness Can Reduce Time Required To Return To Normal Operations
News reports and videos of the tornadoes that swepts across several parts of the United States as well as the Japanesse earthquake and tsunami are somber reminders of the need to be prepared for potential disasters that could shut down businesses and leave employees homeless.
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BBB Warns Of Scams Spawned By Data Breaches
Epsilon, Sony PlayStation Network Announced Problems In April
 A few days after millions of email addresses were stolen from Epsilon, a major email serving firm, the BBB began seeing one of the first phishing scams derived from the breach. Soon thereafter, Sony reported problems with its PlayStation Network.
Phishing scammers pose as reputable companies to fraudulently obtain your personal information such as logins, passwords, credit card information or account numbers. If you are a customer of one of the companies that had email data stolen, the BBB is warning you to be on the lookout for phishing emails.
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