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The Clark Howard Podcast

8.26.19 Labor Day gas prices; Beware this romance email scam; Amazon 3rd party sellers warning

The Clark Howard Podcast

Clark Howard

Investing, Entrepreneurship, Business

4.65.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2019

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Oil and in turn gas prices which were expected to be headed higher now, are in fact  lower. AAA reports as we move into the Labor Day holiday period, gas prices will average .30 cents less per gallon than one year ago. Traffic will be the problem this Labor Day holiday.  Also, electric vehicle purchases are a small part of the market but enough people are buying to affect the demand equation for gasoline, and that is helping to moderate prices. There will still be ups and downs based on temporary factors, but the trends for low gas prices are positive. A 3 year investigation resulted in a federal bust. Be on your guard for the techniques these scammers used – this won’t be the last criminal ring employing them. The number one scheme here: online romance scams - an active fraud method for at least 15 years. This time, the fraudsters were pretending to be U.S. military personnel.  No matter how much you may have fallen for someone online, don’t believe the story until you’re face-to-face and know who you’re dealing with. Criminals exploit the military or anything else to exploit your affection as a gateway to your wallet. A WSJ investigation has found unsafe and counterfeit sales on Amazon.  Their intense digging uncovered safety issues. Most Amazon sellers are third party, much like online marketplace eBay. Amazon muddies the waters by including many 3rd party items as Amazon Choice or Prime. Some kids’ toys contained led, and counterfeits were found. There’s hazard for adults as well such as counterfeit motorcycle helmets. Amazon is selling items that have been banned, including mats that are a suffocation danger to children. 4 out of 10 Amazon Choice kids’ items failed federal safety standards. Amazon sells 3 different ways: Listing for a third party, fulfilling for a third party and direct selling by Amazon themselves which they control. It’s hard to tell.  Amazon has a broken system right now. Don’t allow yourself to be harmed. Follow the steps to identify the actual seller. Important: Amazon does NOT stand behind anything sold on its site that is NOT sourced by them. eBay – also a listing service, is more customer friendly to buyers. Know that Amazon is not necessarily a safe place to purchase until they clean up their act. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

At VWFS Renter Car, we'll give you exactly the car or venue asked for.

0:04.7

So you might want to stop calling us Renter Car and start calling us,

0:08.6

Renter Volkswagen Golf Auto or Renter Skoda Codiac for the whole family

0:13.0

or Renter Craft a Panel Van with space for everything.

0:15.7

Actually, just call us VWFS Renter exactly the car or venue wanted

0:20.0

or VWFS Renter Car for short.

0:22.5

Say yes to vehicle rental as it should be.

0:25.1

Say yes to VWFS Renter Car, book online today.

0:28.7

Season says apply.

0:30.1

It's great to have you here on the Clark Howard Show where it's all about you and that

0:41.1

quality yours.

0:42.1

I want you to learn ideas to me so you can save more and spend less and don't let anyone

0:47.3

ever rip you off.

0:49.5

Speaking of that, one of the largest fraud operations online that maybe has ever happened

0:56.7

in US history was busted.

0:58.7

I want to tell you what the crooks were up to that are important lessons for you and coming

1:06.0

up yet later, an investigation by the Wall Street Journal finds that a lot of extremely

1:12.9

unsafe products are being sold on Amazon.com, a lot of counterfeits being sold on Amazon.com.

1:20.9

And just because it says Amazon's choice or Amazon Prime does not mean that Amazon knows

1:27.4

anything about the seller or the item being sold.

1:30.9

I'm going to tell you what you need to know to protect yourself later.

1:36.0

And I want to say something to you about the ongoing uncertainty about the economy and

...

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