Consumer Fraud Lawyer

05/01/2020

03/18/2019

One breakfast buffet table versus two; Taylor Swift versus Mozart; ‘I disagree, definitively.’

07/20/2015

Ashley Madison's slogan is "Life is short, have an affair." May turn out that some people's lives are considerably shorter after the data breach.

03/03/2015

We are interested in speaking with New Jersey residents who purchased Bayer vitamins, such as One-A-Day, based upon the belief that they would help to improve breast, heart, eye, joint or other health. A nonprofit consumer group is arguing that Bayer's claims that its vitamins "support" breast, heart, eye, and joint health, as well as physical energy, immunity, healthy blood pressure, bone strength, and metabolism are unproven. If you are a New Jersey resident who's purchased Bayer vitamins based on these claims, we'd like to hear your story and help protect consumers from believing these vitamins are the answer to preventative care and major health issues.

01/21/2014

Be careful responding to an e mail from Target offering free credit monitoring. Target is apparently making a genuine offer. However, scammers are making the same offer masquerading as Target in an effort to gather private information and steal identities. An absolute mess. Be careful!

12/19/2013

Wine Scam - From Wall St Journal

A California man was convicted Wednesday in Manhattan federal court in connection with his efforts to concoct and sell counterfeit wine after a trial that included testimony from a billionaire connoisseur and a trio of vineyard proprietors from France.

The seven-day trial of Rudy Kurniawan, 37 years old, of Arcadia, Calif., had plumbed the shadowy world of wine counterfeiting, where old bottles and old corks are used to make wine look well-aged—and expensive.

Mr. Kurniawan faces up to 20 years in prison on counts of mail fraud and wire fraud in connection with the scheme to manufacture and sell the phony vintages. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman set a sentencing date of April 24. Mr. Kurniawan also faces deportation to his native Indonesia.

Mr. Kurniawan sat motionless in the courtroom as the verdicts were read while his attorney, Jerome Mooney, patted him on the shoulder. The jury took two hours to return its decision. Mr. Mooney said the verdict disappointed him. He added he believed the defense had exposed a dirty secret in the rare-wine world, a "don't ask, don't tell mentality within the industry as to the authenticity of wine."

Prosecutors had charged that inside Mr. Kurniawan's suburban California home, he affixed forged labels of rare, pricey vintages on old bottles and filled them with masterfully mixed blends of cheaper wines. He sold millions of dollars of phony wine to friends and others victims, some of which he bragged came from a "magic cellar" in Europe, prosecutor Jason Hernandez said in opening statements.

The case was tried in New York because some wine was sold through Manhattan auction houses and the company Mr. Kurniawan secured a loan from is also based here.

Mr. Mooney said his client would appeal, and specifically would challenge the search of Mr. Kurniawan's house.

Prosecutors said that search turned up old used wine bottles and corks, notes on wine blends and thousands of forged labels dating as far back as 1899. Commenting on the prosecution's physical evidence, Mr. Mooney said, "It would've been a very different trial without it."

Because Mr. Kurniawan bought and sold so many bottles of wine, he was bound to unwittingly acquire and sell counterfeits, Mr. Mooney argued.

During the trial, the prosecution called industrialist billionaire William Koch, who testified Mr. Kurniawan sold him counterfeit wine, and called as witnesses French proprietors from three of Burgundy's elite domaines, G. Roumier, Ponsot and Romanée-Conti.

Laurent Ponsot testified how the criminal investigation that led to Wednesday's conviction got its start in 2008.

Mr. Ponsot had been tipped off then that suspicious lots purporting to be his family's vintages were about to be sold by Mr. Kurniawan through a New York auction house. One of the vintages purported to be from before 1971, even though the Ponsot family didn't start making that type of wine until 1982. The next day Mr. Ponsot flew to New York to make sure none of the suspicious wine was sold. He confronted Mr. Kurniawan who claimed he couldn't recall from whom he bought the wine.

Mr. Ponsot was in court Wednesday when the verdict was returned. "As a passionate winemaker, that's not what I expect for my wines, so I'm satisfied," he said. "But I cannot say I am happy that someone is going to jail. I don't really feel pity. He did it, that's for sure."

Manhattan wine dealer Geoffrey Troy said Mr. Kurniawan was one of his best customers from roughly 2005 to 2007.

But an unsealed deal about six years ago stands out for him: To his surprise, he said, Mr. Kurniawan agreed to buy an entire shipment of relatively cheap wine. Mr. Troy said he was suspicious that Mr. Kurniawan's main interest was in the shipment's "period-correct bottles" from the 1910s to the 1950s.

Mr. Troy said the conviction sent a strong message to "fraudsters," but he said he worried about "how much fake wine is out there now because of him."

Mr. Troy likened the world of vintage wine to "a village where everybody's drinking water out of the same well. So you don't want to contaminate the well. Who knows how much of the well water has been poisoned by this guy?"

12/19/2013

Missouri AG warns of scam seeking utility bill payments

Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri attorney general is warning people to beware of a scam in which fake representatives of utility companies are seeking money for supposedly overdue bills.
Attorney General Chris Koster says his consumer protection hotline has received several reports of phone callers claiming to be from a power company and demanding money to avoid disconnecting their service.
Koster says the scam has targeted residential and small-business customers and seems to have become more common as the weather has gotten colder.
The attorney general’s office says people should never provide personal or banking information on phone calls they did not initiate. Koster suggests people hang up and instead call the utility company using a number listed on a bill or the company’s website.

12/09/2013

ONE OF MY CASES

By James R. Hood
ConsumerAffairs' founder and editor, Jim Hood formerly headed Associated Press Broadcast News, directing coverage of major news events worldwide. He also served as Senior Vice President of United Press International and was the founder and editor of Zapnews, a newswire service for radio and television. Read Full Bio→
Email Jim Hood Phone: 866-773-0221Google+

A 2009 Mini Cooper gets a bath
BMW's Mini Cooper has hit the sweet spot with American drivers, with sales approaching 300,000 in recent years.

But the shine wears off the little cars all too quickly in some cases, with timing belt failures causing catastrophic engine damage in some models, according to a class action lawsuit and numerous complaints posted to ConsumerAffairs and elsewhere on the Internet.

Elizabeth of Deer Park, Texas, bought a used 2007 Mini with the money she got from her insurance company after her Honda was wrecked. Soon her finances were wrecked too.

"I got it home and two months later, the oil light came on," she said. The head gasket had failed, causing $2,000 worth of damage. A few months later, the timing belt failed. All told, Elizabeth said she spent $5,000 on repairs in less than a year.

Things didn't turn out much better for Peter of Riverside, Calif.

"My 2007 clutch had to be replaced on February 2012. I had to replace the valve cover, gasket, and hose at 37,500 miles. It cost $718.00. Then in March at 40,000 miles, I have to replace the timing chain at $2200.00 and a thermostat at $675.00. I have to pay out of my pocket for all the repairs since February 2012," Peter said. "I think that Mini does not build a car to last past 35,000 miles before you have serious problems."

What did BMW know?

Consumers rate Mini Cooper
Joshua Skeen and Laurie Freeman had similar problems. They're now the named plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit that argues BMW has known of the defect since 2008 but hasn't warned purchasers, offered a recall or made any attempt to reimburse vehicle owners for the repairs costs.

The models specified in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey are the 2007-09 Mini Cooper R56 and the 2008-09 Mini Cooper R55.

A BMW spokeswoman told ConsumerAffairs the company could not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit claims there is a defect in the Mini's timing chain tensioner, which maintains an appropriate tension of the engine's timing chain. The timing chain controls the timing of the engine's valves, but when the chain doesn't have proper tension or synchronization, the engine's pistons and valves collide with great force and the engine components suffer so much damage that the engine seizes and must be rebuilt.

Rob of Stamford, Conn., has reached a similar conclusion. He took his 2007 Mini Cooper S in for service after the engine started making rattling sounds during cold starts.

The timing chain guide (plastic) had cracked in pieces and scattered though the engine and oil pan," Rob told ConsumerAffairs. "The dealer replaced timing chain, timing chain tensioner (broke too!), and guide. It's been less than 6 months, and the same sounds are coming back!" Rob said in December 2011.

"There is obviously a timing chain mechanism design flaw. Mini should correct this on all affected vehicles. MINI is responsibile for their design mistake regarding a substandard timing chain box," he said.

The named plaintiffs, Skeen and Freeman, both bought new Mini Cooper S models in 2007 and allege that while the timing chains used in the Mini Cooper are meant to last about 10 years or 120,000 miles, they encountered problems with their engines far sooner than expected.

Skeen said he had to spend $3,288 in January to replace his car's engine, which had about 74,000 miles on it. Freeman said her timing chain tensioner was replaced twice -- under warranty in July 2009 and again in February 2013, 14,000 miles later, at a cost of $1,381.

"Maintenance-free"
The lawsuit says that BMW falsely claims the Mini timing chains are maintenance-free. It cites complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from consumers who say their Mini Coopers unexpectedly stopped dead on highways and, in one case, on the on-ramp to a busy freeway.

Perhaps one of the most extreme complaints comes from Julie of Snoqualmie, Wash., who told ConsumerAffairs of her experiences with her 2008 Mini Cooper Clubman, which she bought new and babied with frequent doses of synthetic oil and other recommended maintenance.

Then, one day, the engine light came on. The diagnosis: blown turbo. The cost to repair: $3,400.

"This was a hard pill to swallow ... but it was the best option considering I owe $17K on the car and it's only worth $17K with a good turbo. So I said okay on the repair," Julie said. But Julie's troubles weren't over.

"The shop called me on the day it was supposed to be done and said they had bad news. When they went to get the car started, the timing belt busted when it turned over and the engine is toast and needs to be replaced."

The lawsuit alleges breach of express and implied warranty claims and New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and Georgia and Illinois law violations. William J. Pinilis of PinilisHalpern LLP, Morristown, N.J., is representing the plaintiffs.

12/05/2013

Mt. Laurel mortgage firm agrees to $6.35 million settlement over alleged foreclosure abuses
foreclosure-nj Joe Raedle Getty Images.JPG
A mortgage company reached a $6.35 million agreement with the state Attorney General's Office over alleged abuses of customers facing foreclosure. (Joe Raedle/Getty Image

11/25/2013

Ever wonder who pays when a credit card is used fraudulently? Often it is the merchant -- not the bank.

Who pays the bill when credit-card fraud occurs depends on how the transaction was made. If it happened "face-to-face" with the cardholder signing in the presence of the merchant, the issuing bank is generally liable. But if it's a "card-not-present" transaction, such as on the Internet, over the phone, or via mail, the merchant is liable. The majority of transactions are still face-to-face. Visa says such transactions accounted for 77% of its business in 2004, vs. 23% that were card-not-present.

11/24/2013

11/24/2013

Attached is a chart of average auto insurance rates ( zero & LOL thresholds) charged by the insurance companies--this is from an article in today's Phila. Inquirer and the source is checkbook.org. It demonstrates the wide range of premiums, why people should comparison shop, and debunks the myth propagated by insurers that the zero threshold results in huge premium increases.