Current Industry News
Prevent SIM-Swapping Hackers From Stealing Your Phone Number—and the Rest of Your Identity
You know what’s worse than having your password stolen? Having your phone number stolen. SIM-swapping, a type of identity theft, is a means for scammers to get access to your phone number and all of the personal accounts secured through it. The attacker calls a phone provider, pretending to be a customer, and asks to port the number they’re trying to steal to a new SIM card, possibly on a new provider. With your phone number, the attacker can access any personal information secured with your phone, including any platforms that send two-factor Authentication codes via SMS. Since these “cyberattacks” involve good old fashioned cons over the phone, the usual digital security measures we recommend will not save you.
Apex Capital Group Internet Marketers Settle FTC Allegations They Deceived Consumers With False Claims of “Free Trial” Offers and Unauthorized Continuity Plans
The two principals of the Apex Capital Group Internet marketing operation and the 12 corporate defendants they controlled (the Apex Capital defendants) have agreed to court orders settling the Federal Trade Commission’s allegations related to their alleged operation of a multi-national scheme to defraud consumers via deceptive “free trial” offers and negative option continuity plans.
State AG, others, want proposed debt collection regs revised
New York Attorney General Letitia James and 28 of her counterparts from other states banded together to let a federal agency know they want a proposed debt collection rule revised. James and other attorney generals said the rule undermines protections and overwhelmingly take advantage consumers in a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The rule, which was proposed by the bureau in May on behalf of President Donald Trump’s administration, has been met with mixed reviews.
GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES SUCCESS OF NEW YORK’S LANDMARK OUT-OF-NETWORK LAW PROTECTING CONSUMERS FROM SURPRISE MEDICAL BILLS
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the Department of Financial Services has issued a new report detailing the successes of New York’s first-in-the-nation out-of-network law, which protects consumers from emergency and surprise bills from out-of-network doctors and other healthcare providers, including an increasing number of dispute resolution requests. The law, which takes consumers out of the dispute process, has saved New Yorkers more than $400 million with respect to emergency services alone.