More than 60 domain names have been registered in the name of Santa Claus, offering children a wide range of opportunities to e-mail St. Nick. But before allowing children to share personal information with a “Letter to Santa” website, Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona, and the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) recommends that adults carefully review the site to determine who is seeking the information, how it will be used and whether it will be shared with third parties.

“Even Santa is required to comply with CARU’s Online Privacy Protection guidelines and the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act,” said Wayne J. Keeley, CARU’s director.

All Websites directed to children – or Websites designed with a special children’s section –  should have a privacy policy that explains the site’s information collection practices. The privacy policy should include the name of the company and the company’s complete contact information.

It should also state whether the company shares information with third parties, including advertisers, and whether the company publically discloses the information or retains the information for any future purpose.

CARU offered the following ‘Dear Santa’ site review tips:

• Websites directed to children should not ask a child to disclose more information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the activity – a first name and email address, for instance.
• Limit the personal information children share with Santa and omit physical addresses – Santa already knows where all the children live.
• Check Websites for unwelcome content. Some sites are geared toward adults and may contain language or advertising adults may not want children to see.
• Since hyperlinks can allow children to move seamlessly from one site to another, investigate the hyperlinks to assure children don’t access inappropriate content.

When faced with overwhelming credit card debt, as many of us are in this recessionary era, we’re awash with options on how to deal with the debt: handle it on our own; try debt settlement; obtain a debt consolidation loan; file for bankruptcy; tap home equity, or join a debt management program through a credit counseling agency.

Each approach has advantages and disadvantages. Here we’ll clarify what’s entailed in a debt management program.

What is it?
A debt management plans are also commonly referred to as “debt management programs,” “DMPs,” and “debt repayment programs.”

First a person with unmanageable credit card debt seeks credit counseling at a consumer credit counseling service.  A counselor obtains an itemized list of the client’s monthly expenses and income. If a client has funds remaining in the budget, but can’t keep up with minimum payments, debt management becomes a possibility.

A debt management plan is a personalized, structured repayment program wherein you pay back 100% of your debt over time, a maximum of 60 months. You pay down the principal much faster than you could on you own and make one monthly payment to the credit counseling agency which electronically distributes the money to your creditors.

A good credit counselor will review the status of your creditors—tracking the name of the credit grantor, the account number and current interest rate.  Then the counselor will look up how much each creditor would charge in interest were you to join the program (policies between creditors vary greatly). A counselor can tell you how you could save in interest over the long term and your shortened payoff time.

What are the benefits?

Lower interest rates, late and over-limit fees.
By joining a debt management program, you show you wish to back your debt. In exchange, most creditors make concessions to the original agreement to help their customers repay their debt and avoid a potential bankruptcy. Reduced interest rates and waived late and/or over-limit fees are the main appeal.

Decrease the payoff time.
As a result of paying reduced interest and fees, more of your monthly payment is directed to pay off your principal, allowing you to shorten the duration of your payoffs.

Eliminate calls from collectors.
Clients who are well behind on their bills are often hounded by collections agencies. Such calls will continue for about the first 90 days of the program (while the credit grantors process credit counselor proposals). During this period, you may tell collectors that you’ve joined a DMP and refer them to your agency’s Customer Service Department. Once the 90-day period has past, creditors will stop contacting you.

Improve stress.
Once you regain control with a manageable action plan, your stress is greatly reduced. The uncertainty of how you are going to handle a large financial problem causes undue worry and tension. A reputable credit counseling service will encourage free follow-up visits with your counselor.  Should you have questions about your budget or credit, or your circumstances change, having access to a financial specialist reduces anxiety.

Make just one monthly payment.
As a convenience, credit counselors consolidate your payments into one monthly installment that’s divided and sent electronically to each creditor. Usually set up as an automatic withdrawal from a bank (more…)

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is warning businesses that companies across the country are receiving phony telephone calls claiming to be from the BBB, asking if the businesses are planning to move.

“The calls are not from BBB, and the source and purpose of the calls are unknown,” said Kim States, BBB President. “BBB advises businesses to proceed cautiously with any unknown callers.”

This week, Better Business Bureau in Dallas heard from a law firm that received over a dozen calls in the past two weeks. The callers said they were from Better Business Bureau and were updating records, and wanted to know if the law firm is moving. Although the business told the callers it wasn’t moving, the callers continued to call back. The law firm told BBB that the caller ID on the calls displayed all zeros.

Similar bogus calls have been reported to BBB in Minnesota over the last few months, and BBB serving Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington has heard from several businesses about the calls.

Businesses who received the calls, and were actually planning to move their office soon, said the callers asked for their new addresses and additional details. However, none of the businesses that were called have been able to obtain more information from the callers.

To date, BBB has not received any reports that businesses in Southern Arizona have been targeted, but warns businesses to be on the lookout for suspicious callers claiming to be with BBB.

BBB does not call to ask if businesses are moving, and all calls from BBB are clearly identified. Businesses can call (520)888-6161 to verify any calls claiming to be from BBB, or to report questionable calls.

Businesses can be targeted by a number of different schemes, including wire transfer scams, directory schemes, office supply schemes, and more. For BBB tips on schemes against business click here.