SAN ANTONIO – It’s almost fall, y’all!
In Consumer-land we’re talking toys, debt, scam and cheese.
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First, toys. This is an important warning if you have small children in your home. Water beads start out the size of a pinhead, but they can grow 100 times their size when they are submerged in water. The danger is that babies and toddlers find them and swallow them or even inhale them. Then, the squishy balls grow inside the body causing pain, illness and even death. Last week, a Chuckle & Roar water bead kit sold at Target was recalled after a baby died. I caught up with a local mom, Ashley Haugen, who’s been through this scary ordeal. She’s on a mission to get water beads out of the toy category. You can check out my stories with Ashley here.
Another scam warning. If you get an email indicating you have a PayPal invoice, be very careful. I spoke with an area businessman who knew it was bogus, but still ended up losing a whopping $80,000 to an imposter. These scammers are slick and, obviously, can be convincing. Take a look at the man’s story here.
A whole lot of people in Bexar County are getting a whole lot of good news in the mail. A non-profit and a fintech company partnered to buy nearly $14 million in local medical debt and then just tore it up. That will come as a nice surprise to the nearly 10,000 people getting the notice in the mail. Look for an envelope from RIP Medical Debt. It’s real.
Finally, say cheese recall. Kraft recalled certain American Cheese singles, the kind that’s individually wrapped. The problem is the wrapper film can stick and somebody could choke or gag on it.
On that note...
Have a great weekend. Let the pumpkin spice lattes commence.