The financial news that actually matters
A general consumer finance category covering everyday money decisions, budgeting, saving, debt management, credit behavior, and personal financial improvement strategies.
Boston Children’s Health Physicians, a New York pediatric health network, and its IT contractor XTIUM will pay $2.7 million after hackers stole records on about 825,000 New Yorkers in 2024. More than 170,000 of those New Yorkers had Social Security or driver’s license numbers exposed. New York Attorney General Letitia James and Connecticut Attorney General…
Bank of America has agreed to a $4.28 million settlement with former employees who left the bank with unused vacation that was never paid out. Checks will be mailed automatically to those who worked in California, New York or Illinois, with no claim form. They will not go out until the judge grants final approval,…
People who bought pork in the United States between June 28, 2014, and June 30, 2018, have until October 29, 2026, to file a claim in a $117.065 million price-fixing settlement. The same date is the last day to opt out or object. Six weeks later, on December 11, a federal judge in Minnesota holds…
The Justice Department is taking new claims from people who sent money to scammers through Western Union, but only for transfers made between January 1, 2004, and March 9, 2020. That date range, not the size of the loss or how recently the person found out, decides who can file. The administrator’s site lists December…
The most food stamps a Hawaii family of four can get fell to $1,655 a month on October 1. It is the only cut in the new federal table. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s cost-of-living memo says maximum allotments rose for the 48 states and D.C., Alaska, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Supplemental…
Customers who had trouble getting money back from an Amazon return may be owed a share of a $309.5 million settlement. Some will be paid automatically. Others get nothing unless they file a claim by December 1, 2026. The court is set to decide on final approval at a hearing on March 16, 2027, and…
Amazon is still sending court-ordered Prime refunds, and the payments will keep going out through April 2027. The Federal Trade Commission says they arrive by mailed check, PayPal or Venmo, and that no one needs to file a claim. By September, Amazon had issued more than $845 million. The money comes from the FTC’s September…
Federal prosecutors in Boston have charged a former Massachusetts state official with food stamp fraud. Lamar Cook, 46, of Springfield, was arrested October 14 on a criminal complaint charging one count of fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and one count of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says. Cook was appointed by…
Pork buyers have until October 29, 2026, to file a claim in a set of price-fixing settlements totaling $117.065 million. According to the settlement administrator’s website, two of the companies that agreed to pay are Clemens, at $13.5 million, and Seaboard, at $10 million. The other payers are Tyson at $85 million, Hormel at $4.465…
People caught up in the Equifax credit-score settlement have a short list of dates to keep straight. They must opt out or object by November 27, 2026. They must file a claim by December 28, 2026. A federal judge in Atlanta holds the final approval hearing on January 22, 2027. The case, In re Equifax…