The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "consumer fraud" ...
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Consumer Medical Investigations
CBS explored bogus health plans, one of the biggest consumer fraud issues to emerge from the economic recession.
Tags: medical care; haggling; consumer fraud; health care
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Who's Protecting You
The investigation examines whether Wisconsin's Bureau of Consumer Protection is actually committing its own consumer fraud.
Tags: Bureau of Consumer Protection; fraud; consumer; consumer fraud; advertising
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Florida's Insurance Nightmare
The Herald-Tribune's series about the Florida property insurance market gives Floridians their first look at the risk of the insurance companies on which they rely. "In print and online, readers can see detailed financial information of more than 100 insurance carriers, the capital they have to weather a disaster, the degree to which they are overexposed, and the extent to which they are leveraged. It is the only public source to alert consumers whose homes might be in danger."
Tags: property insurance; fraud; hurricane; Florida; insurance fraud; National Association of Insurance Commissioners; Florida Office of Insurance Information;
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Deception of the Desperate
The WSMV investigation "exposed how a Nashville-based company was deceiving people all across the country who were desperate for insurance. Many of these customers had serious illnesses, like AIDS and cancer, and could not get full coverage insurance. They found the company was telling consumers they were getting full coverage insurance, when in fact they were buying basic discount cards that barely paid any of their expenses. "
Tags: insurance; fraud; consumer safety; medical insurance; health insurance
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Start Freakin'
In Seattle, "Stop Freakin', call Beacon" is the catch-phrase that propelled Beacon Plumbing into an instantly recognizable brand and the region's largest emergency plumbing service. We found the company doing unlicensed plumbing work, shoddy repairs, and overcharging customers. Ensuing investigations revealed that the man in the Beacon uniform might not be a plumber at all and that his former dress code may have included pinstripes at the State lock-up.
Tags: fraud; consumer investigation; professional license; advertising;
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Craftmatic
The Craftmatic Adjustable Bed has been sold for decades and marketed mostly to elderly consumers in their homes. The bed is expensive, sometimes sold for as much as $9,000, and those who buy it are told it could virtually save their lives. Elderly customers see the commercials which run nearly non-stop on daytime television and call an 800-number, where they are prompted to set up an in-home demonstration with a Craftmatic salesperson. They are told there is no obligation to buy, but what Inside Edition found is the salespeople rarely leave without closing the deal, and it is rarely to the benefit of the consumer.
Tags: salespeople; complaints; consumer agencies; disability; questionable sales practices; scare tactics; miracle cures; fraud;
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The Subprime Wolves Are Back
Consumer advocates revealed in interviews that some mortgage lenders and brokers have reinvented themselves as FHA-backed lenders to feed off of the consumer panic following the national financial bailout.
Tags: fraud; Wall Street; paper trail; bankruptcy filing; Federal Housing Administration; stimulus package;
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Are you getting greased at Heartland Jiffy Lubes?
Heartland Automotive Jiffy Lubes were found to be selling two oils to customers for different prices. Yet when tested, the I-Team found that the oils had the same properties. ConocoPhillips, the supplier of the more expensive oil, said that Jiffy Lube had known this for sometime. In a later investigation the I-Team found that Heartland Jiffy Lubes sold washer fluid contained no methanol to prevent freezing, despite calling it their “winter blend.†It had simply been died blue by order of the Heartland.
Tags: Jiffy Lube; Heartland; oil; consumer; ConocoPhillips; washer fluid; fraud; deception
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From the Inside Out
Dateline NBC goes undercover to investigate the infomercial industry, which, while "long a target of criticism and government intervention, generates an estimated $90 billion a year in sales." The Dateline team created a pill that would have no effect on skin, but which they wished to sell as "purported to erase lines and wrinkles from the skin." They found a producer, and actresses and a doctor were hired to give false testimonials for the infomercial, which never aired. Experts told dateline that such an infomercial had a potential profit of $10 million before the Federal Trade Commission made contact to check on the product's effectiveness.
Tags: Moisturol; infomercials; consumer fraud; Federal Trade Commission; Nestle's Quik
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Insurance Investigation
The Star examined the insurance industry, using consumer complaints totaling more than 10,000 pages, interviewed hundreds of sources and gathered records for all 50 states. After sifting through information regarding the best and worst companies for consumer complaints both nationwide and in Kansas and Missouri, the Star discovered that Allstate Insurance of Northbrook, Illinois "had the most complaints for claims handing in the country," and "Farmer's Insurance Exchange of Los Angeles led all insurers for complaints over using credit histories to set premiums - a practice consumer advocates call discriminatory." In Kansas, American Investors Life Insurance Co. Inc. of Topeka had the worst complaint record of any annuity provider in the state. The study also found widespread fraud, and also that the insurance industry receives more complaints than banks and stock brokerages. Adding to the problems are the people who have scammed billions of dollars out of insurance companies, which raises premiums across the board.
Tags: insurance; fraud; American Investors Life Insurance Co. Inc.; Allstate Insurance of Northbrook, Illinois; Farmer's Insurance Exchange of Los Angeles