We released our annual consumer alert recently on giving wisely to charity. This is typically a busy time of year for charitable contributions, with consumers wanting tax breaks and charities ramping up their fundraising efforts.

Three pointers, detailed in the consumer alert linked above:

• Never give credit card or other personal information to solicitors or anyone else who contacts you
• Check out how the charity spends its money using our online Check-a-Charity feature
• Plan your giving a year at a time so you're not trying to decide on the spot based on phone calls or mailings

There is a relatively new type of annual survey being done by the US Census department. This is different from the one that's long been done every 10 years. This one is the American Community Survey, or ACS, and it probes much deeper and is mandatory. You can be fined up to $5000 if you don't complete the form, which the Census says takes 38 minutes to do.

A lot of people are uncomfortable with the mandatory nature of this. It asks a lot of personal questions like race, income, do you have running water, how much are your heating bills. And it asks your name - so it's not anonymous.

Regarding identity theft, there are no questions on here that jump out as a threat. The ACS does not ask your Social Security, bank account or credit card number.

If you get any survey asking for those things, that should be seen as a fake and a scam. If you get a survey, it should look like this. If it doesn't, call 1-800-354-7271. That's the ACS number, and an operator can help you determine if your survey is authentic.

We told you during election season that all automated telemarketing calls, even those from politicians, must give you a phone number you can use to opt out of future calls. Now the Federal Trade Commission has taken it a step further.

This won't help you with political calls (which are exempt) but it does apply to calls selling goods and services and charity fundraisers. These robo-calls must now allow you to opt out of future contact by simply pressing one button or saying one word. And if your answering machine gets the message, they have to give you a callback number that allows you to opt out without talking to anyone.

It is a violation of federal law for a telemarketer to contact you if you have asked them not to. You can file complaints against telemarketers with our No Call office here.

If you have a credit card, you probably get those "convenience checks" in the mail. These are checks the credit card company sends without your permission. They allow you to write a check on your account, and it shows up on your credit card bill just like other charges.

Whether you use these checks is up to you (keep in mind they may have different interest rates than your standard charges), but if you throw them away, shred them first. Otherwise, you have identity theft waiting to happen in your dumpster. Think about it: if a thief gets his hands on these checks, he can start using your credit card account for his own purchases.

So if you're not interested in these checks at all, you can call your credit card company and ask them to stop sending them. Most companies will honor that, though it may take a month or two.

While on the topic of credit cards, remember that you can opt out of unsolicited credit card offers.

The Federal Trade Commission is reporting heavy complaints recently about companies offering to fix consumers' credit reports, thus improving their credit scores. These are essentially worthless services. Here's why I say that:

• If you have negative information on your credit report that's incorrect, you have the right under federal law to have that removed. No need to pay a company to do that. You can either go through the credit bureau that lists the inaccurate info, or file a consumer complaint with our office.
• If you have negative info that's accurate, there is nothing you can do about that. Negative information can stay on your credit report for seven years under federal law - or 10 years if it's a bankruptcy.

For more info, see our publication on credit repair scams.

As part of AG Nixon's Operation Taken For a Ride, one of the targets of our lawsuits will get out of the business of selling extended service contracts for cars.

In this operation, our office sued six companies that send out those postcards that say YOUR AUTO WARRANTY IS ABOUT TO EXPIRE!
The settlement with Certified Auto Warranty Services requires the company to get out of the business entirely. To be precise, it forbids the company from being involved in the motor vehicle service contract, mechanical breakdown insurance, or automobile warranty business, including the selling of any such contract, insurance or warranty.

This the second of the six lawsuits to be settled. The first was a few weeks ago.

PS: The word warranty in the headline is in quotes because these companies are selling something that is not actually a warranty. This blog post explains the difference.

The good folks at scambusters.org have come up with several possible scams that could prey upon consumers hoping to help out victims of Hurricane Gustav.

As usual, the biggies are phishing scams and charity scams.

AG Nixon's latest consumer alert reminds us that home repair ripoffs become one of the top issues as spring and summer approach. This is the season when a lot of us start looking to have repairs done on our homes. And believe me, the crooks are ready for you. We have lots of tips in the above-linked news release, but the biggies are don't do business with door-to-door contractor salesmen and don't pay full price up front. Wait until the job is done to pay the full amount.

Also, make sure you get your agreement in writing. Some contractors don't offer written contracts, but you can draw up your own using our home repair worksheet. This PDF document tells you what to include in your contract.

As you can see from 2007's top 10 consumer complaints, home repair is a big one - always is.

We have blogged here many times that AG Nixon wants to see automated political calls outlawed for people on the Missouri No Call list. So far the state legislature has not made that change. These are also known as robo calls.

But there's a national group encouraging politicians to take a no robo call pledge. Not going so well so far - only four candidates nationwide have signed up.

I often get questions from consumers like "How do I know if a charity solicitor is legit?"

Let's do a Charitable Giving 101. Here are our tips:

• Look into their finances at our Check-a-Charity site. You can search or see the full alphabetical list. There are more than 800 charities in our database. We have encouraged every charity that's legally registered in Missouri to participate. So if they're not in there, they are either uninterested or unregistered. Either is a red flag.
• We agree that at least 65% of a charity's money should be spent on its programs, rather than overhead like fundraising, salaries, bills, rent, etc. Never make a decision during a telemarketing call - always ask for written information by mail.
• Never give your credit card or bank info to a telemarketer who has called you. He or she could be an ID thief.
• Don't be pressured or guilted into a decision. It's your money! Only give when you're comfortable.

A good solution to all this: Plan your donations annually. Figure out how much you'll give and to whom. This way you're not trying to respond on the spot to phone calls and mailings.

Do you get much junk mail? Pre-approved credit card offers? Most consumers don't know you can opt out of a lot of that stuff.

Observe:

For junk mail, go to the Direct Marketing Association site or write: DMA Mail Preference Service PO Box 643 Carmel, NY 10512

For pre-approved offers of credit and insurance, you can opt out online or by callng 1-888-5OPTOUT (567-8688).

If this is any indication, we ran an anti-mail fraud project last year called Senior Sting 2006. During the month of May, 300 senior citizens from across Missouri kept all their junk mail. It amounted to 8,000 pieces.

We have a popular flyer we hand out at fairs and other public events that explains Missouri's No Call law and the rights consumer have in dealing with telemarketers. Some highlights:

• It's illegal for telemarketers to call you if you have asked them not to. If they do, you can file a complaint with our office.
• Calls can be made only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• Before making a pitch, they must first tell you it's a sales call, the seller's name and what's being sold.
• It's illegal for telemarketers to misrepresent information.
• It's illegal for them to withdraw money from your bank account without your express, verifiable authorization.

As for bullet point #1, here's what to say to keep a telemarketer from calling again:

"I do not want your company calling me back. Now that I have told you this, you will be in violation of the law, and I will file a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General's office if you call me again."

If not, you may see it at some point. Washington Post has an article about the increasing about of text-message advertising being generated. And unlike spam in your inbox, or telemarketing calls to your home, these text-message spams can cost minutes against your plan.

AG Nixon has been calling on the state legislature to strengthen the No Call list for years, but no dice yet. He wants, among other things, cell phones to be added to the No Call list. Under the law, we can only take residential landline phones. If we could get that change, it could block unsolicited text-message ads.

Friday, our office announced the total restitution recovered through informal mediation efforts this year by the Consumer Protection Division. Our office recouped, returned or otherwise saved consumers $9.2 million in 2007.

While this is a record-setting amount, we would like to remind everyone of a few tips that can be helpful to avoid getting scammed in 2008.

1. Do your research before investing. This applies to all major investments, such as work on your home, a car purchase, refinanced loans and other important financial decisions.
2. Also check the company's track record for consumer complaints; our website as well as the credit report regularly. If this is something you don't already do, make it a New Year's resolution. Many problems can be corrected in a timely manner simply by bringing the issue to someone's attention. For example, there are forms to fill out with your bank or credit card company if you detect fraudulent charges, but they must usually be completed within 2 months of receiving your statement.
3. Brush up on common scams to avoid such as Nigerian letters and overpayment scams. The National Consumers League also has sponsored a great website with quizzes to test your knowledge.

As always, if you have questions, you can call our Consumer Hotline at 800-392-8222, or file a complaint.

AG Nixon sent out a consumer alert today on these items, which you're likely to come across as you're out at the stores doing your holiday shopping.

We have FAQ page for rebates in our consumer encyclopedia. We also have a consumer publication on warranties, which a nice explanation of the difference between a warranty and a service contract. To be technical, what we call extended warranties are actually service contracts.