Saturday, December 20, 2008

"To make sure you are treated well and get your money's worth when you spend your hard earned cash"

4:15pm—

GUEST: Bob Frick, Senoir Editor, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

TOPIC: Article: Economic Crisis Fuels Financial Scams;
Kiplinger's Reveals Today's Most Common Rip-Offs

OVERVIEW:

The January issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance (on newsstands now)
uncovers the most common schemes-and offers tips to help avoid them:


(1)     Debt negotiation cons. Some debt-negotiation companies are
counseling their clients to ruin-falsely claiming they can help repair
credit reports. Others advise clients to stop paying their bills without
telling them they could be sued by creditors.

How to Avoid It? Find a legitimate credit-counseling agency at
www.nfcc.org  or www.aiccca.org. If you think you've been duped, call in
a complaint: 877-382-4357.


(2)     Mortgage-foreclosure rescue cons. More than half of homeowners
who are late on their mortgage payments aren't aware that lenders have
programs to help avoid foreclosure, People who don't know their options
can fall prey to crooks who charge $1,000 or more for fraudulent
foreclosure-avoidance services.

How to Avoid It?  Find a housing-counseling agency approved by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (links are listed at
www.hud.gov).

(3)     Bank phishing cons. Criminals are preying on fears over recent
news of bank mergers and acquisitions. Phishing schemes-e-mails designed
to get you to relinquish private security information, including your
Social Security number-falsely indicate that your bank has been
acquired. The message may tell you, "We recently purchased ABC Bank.
Follow the link below to renew your account information."

How to Avoid It?  Forward fraudulent e-mails to the Federal Trade
Commission at spam@uce.gov. Send a copy to the company that has been
impersonated.


(4)     Energy cons. Cold callers pitch energy-related limited
partnerships that are often conceived in one state, involve drilling in
another, and are sold to investors in still other states. Such a setup
makes it tough for investors to check out the proposal, and tough for
law enforcement to identify and expose a fraud.

How to Avoid It?  If you're tempted by such a pitch, start by checking
the registration of the deal. Ask in which state the offering is
registered, then contact that state's securities agency to confirm that
a security is really being offered.

The "Scams Ripped from Today's Headlines" article in its entirety is
available at:
http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2009/01/common-scams.html

4:35pm—

GUEST: Rick Seaney, CEO, FareCompare.com

TOPIC:

OVERVIEW:  Latest travel deals, when/where it's a good time to travel. Is travel cheap and easy or hard and pricey right now... any new regulations, fees.  If anything going on/ emerging in the airline industry right now that we should now about.

4:50pm—

GUEST: Al Anolik, The Travel Law Attorney

TOPIC: A review of cases he is working on

5:05PM—

GUEST: Jill Brooke, Editor-at Large, First Wives World, and Certified Step-family Coach

TOPIC: HOLIDAY GIFTS: HOW TO NOT OFFEND THE STEP-KIDS AND CREATE A TRUE FAMILY EXPERIENCE

OVERVIEW:

"The politics of gift-giving - especially in blended
families - can be fraught with peril. With kids being human calculators,
knowing the value of absolutely everything, each one will measure
exactly where s/he stands in the pecking order," states Jill Brooke,
Certified Step Family Coach and Editor-at-Large for First Wives World,
the first social network and community dedicated to women transitioning
through divorce.  Making sure no one feels slighted and everyone feels
very much a part of this new, blended family can be difficult.

*        Holiday gift-giving for the children in a tough economy when
your income is now half of what it was (from the divorce).

*        Gifts for the step-kids and how best to approach it.

*        Gifts for Step-parents  - how biological parents  should
communicate with the children and new partner on expectations,
traditions, etc.

*        Gifts for Siblings from Relatives - how to deal with
gift-giving from aunts, grandparents, etc.          

5:235 PM--

GUEST: Simon Fleming- Wood, Pure Digital, Vice President, Marketing, Pure Digital Technologies, Inc.

TOPIC: Last minute gift: Flip Video family of camcorders

5:45PM—

GUEST: John Love, www.OneTrueMedia.com

*** KGO listeners can receive a 25% DISCOUNT on dvd's the promotion code is "KGO 25"

TOPIC: One True Media makes a great last-minute holiday gift: you can
      either make and send a video montage as a gift or video greeting,
      or you can give someone a year-long Premium Subscription to the
      service for just $39.99.

OVERVIEW:
    * Creating a montage using One True Media is easy and fast: just
      upload your digital photos and video onto the site
      (www.onetruemedia.com) and in very little time, you'll have an
      impressive photo/video 'montage' replete with music, themes and
      special effects. You can either create montages from scratch, or
      use our professionally designed templates where all you do is drop
      in your photos and video and will have a finished montage in minutes.

    * The beauty of One True Media is that it does all the production
      work – assembling a professional-looking montage in just minutes
      -- and you get all the credit for being so creative.

    * The user controls the creative process and can be as involved as
      he/she wishes, with options for themes, music and a range of
      special effects.

    * Your finished montage can be easily shared in a variety of ways:
      via e-mail, DVD (complete with a customizable case), social
      networking sites, YouTube, mobile phone or even TiVo. www.onetruemedia.com

6:05PM—

GUEST: Cat Schwartz, “The High Tech Mommy” & eBay’s Gadget & Toy Director

TOPIC: The hottest tech trends for the 2008 holiday season, as well as share unique and affordable gift ideas for tech lovers of all ages.

6:25PM—

GUEST: Eugene Malobrodsky, www.AnchorFree.com, Head of Technical Operations and Strategic Planning

TOPIC: Wi-Fi Risks and how to protect your computer and PDA

OVERVIEW:

The proliferation of hotspot locations at coffee shops, hotels and airports has paved the way for savvy hackers who can steal personal information online. Anyone can easily infiltrate computers on wireless connections at public Wi-Fi locations, view confidential information, change passwords, and gain full control over all aspects of a user's screen without their knowledge that any malicious activity has occurred. Downloading a simple tool onto your computer or iPhone easily averts this risk.

6:40PM—

GUEST: Adam Ludwig, www.GiveReal.com

TOPIC: Gift idea: Send gifts of real drinks anywhere in the US

OVERVIEW:

The first service of its kind, Give Real lets you send drinks redeemable at over 500,000 restaurants and bars in the United States. 
-Through Give Real, you can now notify your friends online that you've got their tab covered, no matter where, when, or what they order.
-Give Real offers a clever gift giving alternative that's perfect for last-minute and long-distance gifting

With Give Real, picking up the tab has never been easier:
1. Style your gift by making a drink suggestion and adding a personal message.
2. Your friend accepts the gift by registering their credit or debit card with Give Real.
3. Your friend enjoys a night out at any restaurant or bar in the US that accepts credit cards.
4. The drink credit automatically appears on your friend's account.

A huge variety of drinks -  from mojitos to milkshakes - through the Give Real website or Facebook- redeemable at any bar or restaurant in the United States.

By logging on to www.givereal.com or the Real Drinks application on Facebook (http://apps.facebook.com/realdrinks), users can purchase up to $99 worth of drink credits, pick from a wide variety of beverages and cocktails, and send them to anyone in the country.