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Net IQ Tests Can be Draining (of Your Wallet)

iqtestIt seems innocent enough — an invitation to take an IQ test. 

They are advertised on Facebook, in Yahoo!, and on other sites.  Sometimes they even make you think that friends have already taken the test, and you are being challenged to beat them.  Other times you may get pop-ups saying that other people in your town have taken the test (they use your IP address to figure out your location).

If you click on the ad, you might be taken to a webpage that looks like this:

iqtesthome

There are ten questions to the test, and at the end you are asked to enter your cell phone number so the results can be texted to you.  At worst, you might think that you will be charged 10 or 20 cents for receiving a text message.

iqtestphone

What you don’t see when you take the test is a hidden footnote.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Summary terms:  This is an auto renewing subscription service that will continue until canceled anytime by texting STOP to short code 25692. Available to users over 18 for $9.99 per month charged on your wireless account or deducted from your prepaid balance for 3 alerts per week on T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Virgin Mobile USA, Cellular One, Cincinnati Bell, Centennial Wireless, U.S. Cellular, and Unicel 5 alerts per week). For $4.99 per month for 2 alerts per week on Cricket. For Mind Quiz support: text HELP to 25692, email mailto:25692@sms-helpdesk.comor call 18002357105 for automated help or call 18004166129 for a live operator. Standard messaging charges apply for Verizon Wireless, All other carriers, standard messaging and/or data rates may apply. Your phone must have text messaging capability. You must be the owner of this device or have permission from the owner. By signing up for this service and entering your personal PIN Code delivered to the cell phone number supplied by you on this website, you acknowledge that you are agreeing to thee full Terms of Use. Click here for full Terms & Conditions.

Translation: By filling in your cell number and entering your PIN number, you are agreeing to a MONTHLY $9.99 charge for who knows what.

What makes this offer so deceptive, is the manner in which the disclosure is made.  It is not merely a footnote.  It is hidden on the page.  You think you are looking at the entire IQ test screen when taking the test because of all the blank space below the test box. There is no disclosure visible.  In fact you have to scroll down beyond the blank space to find the disclaimer.  See sample (but don’t click).

Don’t fall for a scam like this.

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Smart fortwo: $99 a Month Car Offer

smartcar99

Anticipating the rollout of the “Cash for Clunkers” program, Smart USA is offering a $99 a month deal on its tiny Smart fortwo car.

All you have to do is buy a Smart car (which lists for $13,335), apply the $4500 government subsidy, accept financing of 5.9%, and you get to pay only $99 a month.

Oh… one other thing… buried in the footnote.

*MOUSE PRINT:

$99 monthly payment based on customer trade-in of an eligible vehicle qualifying for the CARS $4,500 voucher level and a 36-month balloon loan with $0 cash due at signing and a final balloon payment of $6,667 [emphasis added] at the end of the loan term and a $13,335 MSRP which includes the destination charge and excludes tax, title and dealer fees. 5.9% APR financing for 36 months at $11.32 per month, per $1,000 financed.

Sounds like the tricky financing that got some homeowners in trouble.

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Some Tuna Cans Just Got Upsized!

In an era of shrinking toilet paper rolls, candy bars, and ice cream containers, something unusual is going on at Costco. They have actually gotten some manufacturers to upsize their tuna cans.

Over the past decade or two, tuna cans have gone from 7 ounces to 6.5 ounces to 6.25 ounces to 6-1/8 ounces to 6 ounces and finally to 5 ounces last year. But look at the new Costco Kirkland brand cans:

*MOUSE PRINT:

costcotuna

costcotunatestThey have gone up to 7 ounces, and so have Chicken of the Sea and Starkist brands sold at Costco. The increased size comes at an increased price, no doubt, but tuna cans are now back to their original size. It appears that Costco is the only seller of the new upsized cans.

In Costco’s monthly magazine, their consumer reporter touted the fact their tuna contains fewer fillers and less water than competitors.  She went on to say that you get triple the tuna in their 7-ounce can  (12 tablespoons) compared to the tuna found in some brands’ 5-ounce cans (4 tablespoons). She enlisted her husband to do the test, as noted in the box on the left.

How is it possible that the 7-ounce can of tuna can contains triple the amount of tuna of a 5-ounce can when it only contains two extra ounces of contents?  The answer is it can’t unless the brand name manufacturer is packing more ocean in its cans than tuna.

Our trusty mouse measured the amount of tuna in a 5-ounce can of Chicken of the Sea solid white tuna, first squeezing out the water, and found that it contained one-half cup, which is 8 tablespoons (not the four tablespoons that Costco claimed).

chickensea5

It is reasonable to believe Costco’s claim that its brand of tuna in 7-ounce cans contains 12 tablespoons of tuna (3/4 cup), if a 5-ounce can of other name brands contains 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup).  It is not however plausible that Costco’s brand contains triple the amount of tuna.  Two requests to Costco to comment on their claim went unresponded to.

Costco’s 7-ounce cans cost $1.50 each (in packs of eight), while sale prices for brand name tuna in 5-ounce cans are typically about a dollar.  That makes them just about equivalent.

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