Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is warning consumers of suspicious phone calls from telemarketers claiming to be with the US Census Bureau, telling their consumers that they’ve won a free cruise.

It’s not yet clear to BBB who is behind the misleading calls, but if you receive a similar call from someone claiming to be with the Census Bureau, or any other government agency, hang up immediately. Government agencies will not attempt to sell you products when they contact you.

One of the most talked about initial public offerings of stock in history is scheduled to hit Wall Street on Friday. But Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona cautions that when Facebook goes public, prospective investors should be wary of the hype and rely instead on research and consider professional advice.

“Many inexperienced investors may be drawn towards jumping into the stock market for the very first time,” said Kim States, BBB President. “In fact, we routinely teach our children investment strategies through the purchase of familiar brands’ stock, like Disney, McDonalds and Wal-Mart. But despite explosive growth to date, whether Facebook will be a wise investment has yet to be determined.”

While past performance is one thing to look at when evaluating an investment, other things to consider are the company’s ability to sustain growth, the valuation of the stock against earnings, competition and future trends including, in the case of Facebook, an increased number of mobile device users.

When the stock hits the market Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, will retain a controlling interest of 57 percent of voting shares, giving him virtually absolute power over the company. A bad decision, scandal, or other management crisis, could cause a drop in company stock, and investors would have little recourse to demand changes.

BBB and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Investor Education Foundation (FINRA) offer the following common investor traps based on investor complaints and how to avoid them:

Misrepresentation

Misrepresentation can occur when a broker purposefully makes untrue representations of material facts or omits material information. This can happen in any security in any account, but this problem is commonly found with low-priced, speculative securities because of their increased risk.

How to Avoid This Problem

Ask the broker to send you information that will back up his/her representations.

• If you rely on your broker, make sure the investment meets your objectives; and make sure you understand and are comfortable with the risk, costs and liquidity of the investment. Never invest in a product you don’t understand.
• Ideally, you should independently verify information by thoroughly reading a prospectus, research reports, offering materials, annual reports (10K), quarterly reports (10Q), brochures or other documentation. (more…)

A Utah company charged homeowners hundreds of dollars each for “risk free” mortgage audits, then either delayed their promised refunds for months or never paid them at all, customers told Better Business Bureau.

Consumers  several states also said AMT Auditing Services of American Fork, Utah, added unauthorized charges to their charge cards and/or forced them to deal with long, frustrating delays when the homeowners tried to contact customer service representatives to resolve their issues.

AMT Auditing Services has an “F” grade with the BBB, the lowest grade possible, with complaints and reports from 25 states. BBB in Salt Lake City identifies Colton Moody as manager of the company.  CRM Ventures LP, Enlightened, LLC, and Mortgage Auditing Program are alternative business names.

Kim States, BBB President, said that consumers should be cautious when solicited by AMT or other businesses seeking advance fees for mortgage audits.

States said the number and pattern of complaints involving AMT indicates “a significant and ongoing problem with the way this company handles its business.  There remain continuing concerns over the value of mortgage audits.  And there certainly is no acceptable excuse for a business that seems to chronically ignore its own customers.”

Homeowners say they received mailings from AMT similar to one sent to a Wisconsin consumer in March. That mailing said: “This notice is to inform you that you may be owed a refund of several thousand dollars from your mortgage lender. Your monthly mortgage payment may have been miscalculated and you may be due a refund from either your current or previous mortgage lender.”  The letter says that the average refund is $1,497 and one-third of the refunds are $3,000 to $7,500.” In fine print at the bottom, the letter says it is not  a mortgage modification offer, a forensic mortgage audit offer nor an offer to prevent foreclosure.

In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission warned consumers: “So-called forensic loan auditors, mortgage loan auditors, or foreclosure prevention auditors backed by forensic attorneys offer to review your mortgage loan documents to determine whether your lender complied with state and federal mortgage lending laws. The ‘auditors’ say you can use the audit report to avoid foreclosure, accelerate the loan modification process, reduce your loan principal, or even cancel your loan.  Nothing could be further from the truth.”

On its website, www.amtdivision.org, AMT offers a mortgage audit at a sale price of $299. The site says AMT will determine whether a consumer has been overcharged and then notify the homeowner so he or she can obtain refunds from the lender.

Some customers who filed complaints with the BBB said that AMT took months to complete audits that it promised to complete in a few weeks. They also said the company delayed or reneged on promises of full refunds if the audit uncovered no overcharges.

The company did not respond to a request for information from the BBB.

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona and the FTC discourage consumers from making advance payments for outside mortgage audits. Check BBB Business Reviews of companies at www.tucson.bbb.org or by calling 314-645-3300. The FTC also suggests getting free advice from housing counseling agencies certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by calling 1-888-995-HOPE.