The Federal Trade commission plans to award 1.6 million dollars to thousands of consumers who were tricked into paying money that they did not owe by scam artists who used threats, harassment and lies to get them to pay up.

In 2003, the FTC sued three companies that were operating under the name, National Check Control. They charged them with harassing and abusing customers. The list of grievances included falsely threatening criminal prosecution, collecting amounts that were not due, illegally communicating with third parties and other violations of federal laws.

Two years later the court ordered that their business be permanently halted and ordered them to pay back the consumers they had tricked The defendants, Check Investors Inc, Check Enforcement Inc, Jaredco, Inc and the companies owner Barry Sussman tried to appeal the case to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court in vain.

One day after the appeals court didn’t agree to look into his appeal, Sussman suspiciously retrieved an amount of coins valued at $335,000 from a bank safe deposit box. The federal court demanded that he turn over them to the FTC to pay back the consumers. Later, a federal jury convicted him of two felony counts, one for theft of government property and one for obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to forty one months in federal prison and is serving his sentence now.

The FTC was able to retrieve 1.6 million dollars to award the conned consumers. They plan to distribute the funds to 24,916 victims who lost a hundred dollars or more as a result of the scam. The consumers will begin to receive checks this month.

The Federal Trade Commission is responsible for putting an end to fraudulent, unfair, and deceptive practices that may be harmful to consumers. Also, they provide information to help the consumer in seeing, stopping, and avoiding scams.

Mallory McGuinness works for a debt collection company. She also does pieces about finance and business, consumer spending and debt collection.

A debt collection company based in California initiated a ploy to educate and motivate employees to live healthier lifestyles in early January. There are twenty eight employees at the agency; more than half are currently participating in the implementation.

All of the parties involved have made a goal to lose ten percent of their total body weight by the end of June. Every Monday morning weigh-ins are scheduled and employees have an opportunity to win two cash prizes for losing five percent of their body weight by the end of March, and then another five percent by the end of June.

The Agency’s executive said that he had been thinking about the initiative for quite some time. He declares it perfect for the stereotypical office setting that is fraught with unhealthy eating, and employees taking breaks to get fast food. He made note of the fact that attempting to make employees lose weight was more cost efficient than actually getting health insurance for his workers.

In a ploy to get employees to live healthier, the agency has sporadic lunches and “education track meetings” once a week. The meetings are supposed to assist employees target and plan for their weight loss goal. So far the program has been a success. The collection company has collectively lost 72 pounds to date. That’s the size of a small child.

The program works to produce a better all around worker. It follows that a worker that is less stressed will be more efficient and motivated. While a really relaxed debt collector does not seem like they would be the most efficient worker, it all seems like a good idea. As the government tries to sort out the health care system, perhaps it is time that more companies like this take this route. If employees cannot get health insurance, health initiatives and goals at work could be the next best solution.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection agency. Also, she composes stories on the credit industry, business and finance, and debt collection.

Once again the US Government is making ground breaking advances in taking every measure available to get the economy back on track.

As seen in today’s NY Times (03/19/2009):

DETROIT ” The Obama administration moved on Thursday to stabilize the American auto industry by creating a $5 billion fund to support troubled parts suppliers.

The program will provide supply companies with much-needed access to liquidity to assist them in meeting payrolls and covering their expenses, while giving the domestic auto companies reliable access to the parts they need, the Treasury announcement said.

It is too early to say exactly what the details of this latest new is but President Obama has shown time and again that he is going to push through this recession and nothing is going to hold him back.

I had predicted that Accounts Receivable Factoring is going to be a major financing method of our economy revival and this proves how accurate that is.

Not everyone has heard of Accounts Receivable Factoring before so I will give you a brief outline of what it is. Accounts Receivable Factoring or Accounts Receivable Financing is a Line of Credit that uses your outstanding Invoices as security.

In an average Accounts Receivable Factoring facility, the company that is financing their receivables will be eligible to receive between 80% and 90% of the invoice face value. One the end customer pays they will receive the balance of the funds less the finance fee,

Most Factoring facilities will charge from 2% to 4% per month depending on the industry, credit rating of the customer and the advance rate,

Purchase Order Finance is a compliment to AR Factoring for companies that need a little more financing. This will allow companies to borrow against orders to be filled. With this financing, there are strict guidelines to follow as companies that are in the manufacturing sector often can not use this finance option.

There are many different sources of this type of funding but who is best for your company? This is a job best left to a Commercial Finance Broker as they are in the know of who does what and who has the best program and the best rates for you particular circumstance.

Best of all, most Professional Commercial Finance Brokers will be paid by the lender so you are not normally required to pay them for their services so it really is in your best interest to consult with them.

Pro-BargainHunter.com Multiple Pre-Screened Vendors competing for your business A R Factoring AR Factoring

You will often be advised to replace the wooden windows in your home with aluminum or plastic windows. Before you make the decision to replace older wooden windows, consider the following reasons to say no to plastic windows and restore your original historic wooden windows.

Wooden windows are designed for a long life. Many historic wooden windows will last for two hundred years as long as they are painted on a regular basis. In addition, wood windows are made to be repaired and restored easily. A good cabinet shop can make any part to restore your wooden windows to like new condition, even if your windows are having problems with rot.

If you replace wooden windows with plastic ones, you are replacing a product designed to last for centuries with one designed to last for twenty years or less. The softeners that keep the vinyl flexible will evaporate out of the plastic over time and those new windows will begin to get fragile and break easily.

You often hear of all the advantages of double glazed windows made of vinyl for the winter months, however a quality wood window with a storm window in place has been shown to provide better insulation qualities than any double glazed window.

If you use storm windows instead of double glazed widows you will never have the problem of permanently fogged windows due to the problem of leaking gaskets. Storm window are easy to clean and allow windows to be easily cleaned.

Wood windows offer superior looks to plastic windows. Plastic bars over glass cannot give the authentic look of wood windows. In addition, these windows will eventually bring the value of your home down.

Restoring the historic wooden windows can improve the looks of your home but will also keep its value high for many years. Windows that have been restored properly can easily last for another hundred years.

Cleaning your windows in London can be a pain for anyone to do themselves, why not get a company to do them. Sash window repairs London can be helpful. They also provide services for Sash Window Draught Proofing.

What do you think of a bank that would pull the plug on the financing of a successful trucking company that employs more that 100 drivers? Now what I am referring to is a profitable company that is struggling to make ends meet, but is doing just that.

This is a real event for a Texas based Freight Carrier recently. After a brief panic attack, the CEO called his bank and the account manager told him that due to revisions of the banks risk structures are laid out, he has no choice but to pull the financing. He has 2 weeks from the receipt of the letter to repay the loan of $1.0 million. Upon dealing with a Professional Commercial Finance Broker, not only was the loan paid off at the bank on time, but the trucking company had a new Line of Credit of $1.75 million now.

This is a popular scenario today with the tightening restrictions on lending today. Even with the announcement of Presidents Obamas grand plans, banks are still pulling the plug on companies that are making it, forcing some to close down and put people out of work.

Most companies do not need more debt; they usually have enough of that. What they do need is cash flow. If this sounds similar to your situation, please, speak to a Commercial Finance Broker. They are trained professionals whose career is based on keeping on top of the new finance options coming out and knowing which lender does what deals the best.

Be aware though, not all lenders are created equal, even if they do the same thing, not all Commercial Equipment Lenders are best for all equipment and business types. They have their strengths. Just like your company. Your company is the best at certain things, but in others, that is not your focus so you can do the other stuff, but you are far better at your main product or service.

Commercial Finance Brokers are up to date with the latest changes and options available. Many Commercial Finance Brokers can handle Financing options ranging from Accounts Receivable Factoring, Purchase Order Finance, Export Finance, Commercial Equipment Loans or Commercial Mortgage.

Pro-BargainHunter.com Multiple Pre-Screened Vendors competing for your business Commercial Factoring Discounting Factoring

Ever dreamed of that bug sales? You know the one I am talking about, the one that would put your company on the map in your industry as a player. Be careful for what you wish for. Many companies have wished for that very thing until it actually happens. What would you do if you received that order and it was for more than you entire last 2 yeas of sales in one Purchase Order?

That did happen to a Telecommunication Company in New York State, USA. In one order, their sales had increased to over 3 times the size of their entire Line of Credit at their bank. The owner went to the bank to get it increased so they could take on the order but the bank refused to increase their limit.

With this order, the customer had to have terms on the invoice of 30 days, and to make it worse the supplier required payment prior to shipping. The time to deliver the goods from the time it leaves the supplier dock is 10 days. In this case we have a 10 day delivery time plus a 30 day collection time from the customer, so we have a 40 time span of where we do not have the financial capacity to handle the order. So what now? Decline the order?

That is an option, but the owner of the company kept looking for a solution. He ended up speaking with an Accounts Receivable Factoring Company, but they could not help because of the time span as well since they could only fund on open invoices on delivered goods. The goods could not be delivered without payment and he could not get payment at this point without delivering the goods. Quite a predicament.

The owner of the Company was then referred to a Commercial Finance Brokerage who immediately assembled a Purchase Order Finance and Accounts Receivable Factoring facility. Now the order was able to be processed and now the door is open for future orders from and large buyers.

Wade Henderson – very Professional – 15 yrs in the Business Finance Field – reputation for getting the deal done. IMMFinancial.com factoring services accounts receivable collections

Keep an eye out if you are trying to purchase tickets to Colts-Saints game. Criminals love to take advantage of the fans. Travel ploys in all types of shapes and sizes come out of the woodwork whenever there is a landmark sporting event.

Last year there was an email sent out in Pennsylvania attempting to trick Steelers fans. Saying that they are in charge of the Visa Super Bowl Winning Contest, with an NFL logo on top, scammers promised $100,000 to fans and two Super Bowl Tickets. Sounds too good to be true? That’s because it is. The catch was that in order to retrieve their prize the fan had to wire the email senders $3,000 to cover taxes.

Already, there are emails being sent through the internet about the upcoming World Cup. One promises three free tickets and two million dollars. Even though there are spelling errors throughout and a sub-par cut and paste job with the World Cup Logo, there are bound to be a number of victims.

Another ploy to keep an eye out for is the postcard scam. Postcards promising packages similar to the ones just mentioned, on “travel certificates.” One thing to keep in mind is that unethical scam companies are able to cut and paste logos or art that they want to use, lending a false sense of authenticity to whatever is being sent out.

Lastly, there are travel “certificates” that say that you’ve won a trip to the Super Bowl and a great Super Bowl package, complete with hotel room. But the hotel you get to is a dump, and you have to book your airline tickets through the “contest office,” and these tickets are way more expensive than you could get on your own. And the kicker is, once you have arrived at the dump of a hotel, you find out that the package never included tickets to the game.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. She also does pieceson business and debt collection.

We’ve all seen them – the in your face “Cash4Gold” television ads, sometimes featuring people on the street dancing, or at other times, M.C. Hammer offering quick cash in exchange for your old, unused jewelry. Although human nature makes us want to unconditionally trust the dancing person or even with his track record, M.C. Hammer, it turns out that Cash4Gold may not in fact be too legit to quit.

Recently Representative Anthony D. Weiner called Cash4Gold out for unethical business practices. Standing in front of valid jewelry appraisers, Weiner urged consumers to take their business to a place that they knew was lawful as opposed to the shady mail in gold exchange.

The way that Cash4Gold works is that customers utilize special envelopes to mail jewelry and gold to the company in Florida. According to the advertisements, they will provide customers with a quick appraisal of the value of the items they have sent, and then they will mail them a check for that amount.

Supposedly customers are given a twelve day window in which they can return their check and retrieve the jewelry back. Yet according to research by Rep. Weiner and Consumer Reports, Cash4Gold paid out only 11 to 29 percent of the actual value of valuables sent to them, and they often refused to send jewelry back when it was asked to do so within the 12 day period.

Weiner suggested that the Federal Trade Commission should look into the whole Cash4Gold problem, adding that he wanted to introduce legislation that would regulate companies that use mail to exchange cash and jewelry.

This law would fine companies that melt down gold without the owner’s knowledge or before a return time period has passed. Also, it would make companies allow enough time for consumers to request a refund and ensure that companies actually insure the jewelry they are returning to consumers.

Mallory Megan is employed by debt collection company Rapid Recovery Solution and does articles on business, finance, and the debt collection industry.

No one has to tell a business owner that getting access to much needed cash flow is a difficult task today. It matter not if you are in Canada or the United States, if you have gone to the bank to inquire about financing, there is a good chance you were turned away. For this reason many companies turned to Angel Investors for that all important cash injection.

Be aware that Angel Investors typically look for a ROI of 5 ” 10 times their investment in under 5 years. This is accomplished by looking at many aspects including the salvage value of your company. They will create an exit strategy to recover the funds from your company in the predetermined time frame regardless of consequences to your company.

Angel Investors have now increased their threshold for their ROI to a minimum of 10 times to as much as 50 times their investment because of the failure rate and the length of time that the investor will be tied into the company. When you consider the bigger picture, the effective return on investment for the Professional Angel Investor is usually around 20% to 30%.

Because of this high return on investment, Angel Financing is very expensive, but the lesser costing funds such as banks and credit unions are rarely available for new business start-ups. This is because the traditional financiers have a high threshold for accepting young companies for Business Loans.

So you are declined at the bank and you can not afford Angel Investors now what?

Regardless if your company is in the United States or Canada, there are options. The following is a real life situation that I was involved in to avert an Angel Investor situation. There is a company in Alberta Canada that possesses a unique product that he was planning to market across North America. He went to the usual places to inquire about financing for his business. After the banks turned him away, he spoke to a few Angel Investors. After considering their proposals he continued his search for financing when I presented him with an option called Accounts Receivable Factoring and Purchase Order Finance.

When I had initially spoken to the owner of the company, he had shipped out one large order and was about to ship out his second large order which was going to wipe out his entire inventory and he would have to wait to receive payment from the customers before he could replenish his stock but he had several additional orders to be filled and he had no way to fill them without cash.

In a matter of 7 days after the application was returned to me he was ready to fund and now has access to the much needed cash he needs to grow his business.

In short, if your company has been turned down by the banks and credit unions plus there is no comfort for you in dealing with an Angel Investor due to their terms, be sure to check with a Professional Commercial Finance Broker so they can put together the proper financing for your business.

Wade Henderson – recognized Professional – 15 yrs in the Business Finance Field – strong reputation for getting the deal done. IMMFinancial.com new venture capital ventures capital

Almost everyone who is in debt themselves or knows someone in debt is aware of the dreaded phone call from a collections agency. Whats worse, one phone call may very well turn into twenty, and even worse, the agent they are talking to may be aggressive or threatening on the phone.

Even though collections agents are simply trying to collect on a legitimate debt, some companies have been using unfair and intimidating tactics that has been drawing much negative attention to the public eye, particularly politicians.

Some of the more aggressive policies caught the eyes of James Caldwell, Louisiana attorney general and Washington attorney general Ron McKenna who have both vowed to make accounts receivable management firms and their owners clean up after their acts.

Already, Caldwell has swiftly obtained injunctions on January 8th against two collection agencies that were not following proper procedure with the standards that have been set for obtaining debt.

On that very day McKenna also stated that his office had just come to an agreement with a collection agency that agreed to follow the new restrictions that have been established.

Some of the new boundaries that these collection agencies must comply with include more effective communication. This means that any attempts to embarrass the debtor, harassment, intimidation, threats, and profanity are now out of the question.

With these new settlements, these collection agencies under scrutiny will no longer be able to intimidate debtors through implications such as failing to pay a debt will result in a suspension of the debtor’s driver’s license.

Finally, although these collection companies are able to lawfully report debts to credit reporting agencies, they are no longer allowed to threaten debtors with impairment of their credit rating.

Even though collections agencies are just trying to collect a legitimate debt, there are two issues to consider. Men and women who owe money are just thatmen and women, who deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. More importantly, if a debtor is too frightened of an aggressive collections agent who calls them constantly they very well just stop picking up the calls, leaving themselves in debt, and the collection agencies with nothing.

Mallory McGuinness-Hickey writes for debt collection agency Rapid Recovery Solution and does free lance writing on business events. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.