Spring time is just around the corner and con artists are coming out of hibernation! Be wary of strangers approaching your home offering to sell you products or services, or wanting to do home improvement work. While some of these people are hard-working, honest people, there are others who just want to rip you off. Take the time to check out any company or individual before allowing them into your home or paying them any money.

High Cost Payday Lenders Now Solicit Online
Payday loans can be tempting. Advertisements promising money to “tide you over until your next paycheck” appear at check cashing outlets, in pawn shops, within the classified ads and increasingly, online. Cyberspace is the new marketing frontier for payday loans with check-based lenders promoting their services through pop-up ads, in junk e-mail and on Web sites. While those “cash until payday” services sound helpful, consumers need to know the risks. Cash-strapped consumers can find themselves enmeshed in an endless cycle of repeated borrowing at extremely high costs. To learn more, go to http://www.bbb.org/alerts/article.asp?ID=573.

The Federal Trade Commission and consumer protection agencies around the world have created a valuable new tool to help consumers resolve cross-border disputes. The International Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directory contains contact information for dispute resolution service providers that can help consumers resolve problems with foreign sellers, regardless of the seller’s location. The directory was unveiled on February 14, 2005, on econsumer.gov, a joint Web site operated by consumer protection agencies in 20 countries.

Scam Artists Sometimes Target Businesses
Small business owners often pride themselves on being good judges of character, with a nose for nonsense. Most would claim to be savvy about making purchasing decisions. Sadly, that is not always the case. Better Business Bureaus routinely field complaints from business owners, managers and accountants who have fallen prey to scam artists. They may have been too distracted to thoroughly investigate the offer, perhaps they were too eager to take advantage of a bargain price, or maybe they hadn’t taken the time to train their staff about careful bill-paying procedures. To read the full article, go to http://www.bbb.org/alerts/article.asp?ID=572 .

National Charity Seal: New Aid for Donors
Watch for this seal in a charity’s mailings, on its Web site, in newspaper and magazine advertisements, on TV in public service announcements end elsewhere. The seal means that the national organization displaying it meets the comprehensive standards of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance (www.give.org).