Nationwide Credit Services has agreed to stop making false claims and charging up-front fees under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The settlement is part of "Operation Clean Sweep," an ongoing crackdown on scams targeting financially strapped consumers. Most involve taking hundreds of dollars in fees to purportedly remove negative information from consumers' credit reports.

For the third time in as many months, Pfizer has issued a recall of its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor in response to consumer complaints of unusual moldy odor.

The drug giant said the smell poses minimal health risk to patients, but it is recalling two lots -- approximately 38,000 bottles of Lipitor 40mg tablets -- out of caution. An internal company investigation, triggered by two customer complaints, found the odor was related to Tribromoanisole, a chemical used as a wood preservative. Pfizer suggested a third-party bottle manufacturer had applied it to packaging for the shipment of its medicines.

An online marketer of dietary supplements is being sued by the Federal Trade Commission for making "baseless claims" that its products can treat and prevent diabetes.

The FTC has asked a federal judge to permanently bar Wellness Support Network Inc., of Glendale, Calif. and its two principals, Robert and Robyn Held, from making deceptive claims in violation of federal law. The commission is also attempting to make the defendants refund their customers or "give up their ill-gotten gains," court documents say.

The FTC's complaint challenges claims for two sets of dietary supplements Wellness Support markets to diabetics, primarily via its website, Realfoodnutrients.com.

A Michigan man who set up fake collection boxes for missing children programs has been sentenced to serve six months in jail.

According to the attorney general's office, Joseph Carr placed donation boxes at 88 retail locations across the Lansing area between February and June 2009 and collected between $1,500 and $2,000 a month. Consumers were told their money would go to an organization called the Beacon Project to help find missing children. But Carr pocketed the money and allegedly used it to pay his personal living expenses.

Over-the-counter sales of fake contact lenses spike during the holidays, but are illegal in most states and can cause permanent eye damage and blindness, warn consumer interest groups on the Better Business Bureau's web site.

The reminder, originating from the Ohio attorney general's office, addresses a sharp increase in the number of consumer complaints and resulting cease-and-desist orders to businesses selling color contacts on the black market - at gas stations, beauty supply stores and Halloween costume shops.

Two-thirds of the energy drink brands on the market do not disclose their caffeine content and of the ones that do so, some ignore the threshold for what is considered excessive, researchers at GoodGuide.com found.

Venom, Monster, 5-Hour Energy, Ammo, FRS, and Red Bull Cola all keep hush about the amount of caffeine they put in their drinks, according to GoodGuide, which ranks consumer products according to their impact on health and the environment.

A telemarketing ring that allegedly scammed millions from consumers nationwide looking to sell their timeshares was shut down by the Federal Trade Commission, the agency announced today.There were thousands of victims, the FTC told Consumer Ally.

The FTC won a temporary restraining order halting Timeshare Mega Media and Marketing Group Inc., two related companies and six people in connection with an ongoing investigation. A complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale claims they ran a telemarketing boiler room -- a call center where telemarketers use high-pressure sales tactics -- in Fort Lauderdale.

Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $25 million to the Federal Communications Commission -- a record, according to the agency -- to settle complaints the phone giant was charging "mystery fees" to consumers' phone bills over the last several years.

The fine is in addition to the $52.8 million Verizon already agreed to refund to 15 million of its customers. As part of the settlement, the company will have to give customers the option to block all data services on their cell phones.

If you're having a problem with a business, Consumer Ally can help. Write us at HelpMe@WalletPop.com.

Q. My mom is in the unfortunate situation of being a co-signer on a student loan and was informed she qualified to be taken off after 24 months of payments. She had the main person on the account (who has been absent for the whole loan) sign the paper to release her. She then got a call from Sallie Mae saying that they contacted the main borrower to tell him that the minimum payment had doubled. He has not paid one cent towards the balance for the life of the loan so my mom has paid every month. They told her if she paid the remaining $40 she would be taken off the loan. Then, another rep called her yesterday to tell her she didn't qualify for the removal because she hadn't paid 24 consecutive months. He said because she only paid a partial payment this month she didn't qualify, but she told him that she had since paid the rest. He said the system didn't see that and they were going to send the account to collections. Is there anything she can do?

German multinational corporation Bayer Healthcare has settled charges by three states that it exploited the fear of prostate cancer to market its One-A-Day men's multivitamins, despite the lack of any supporting evidence that the vitamins decreased the cancer risk.

Under the $3.3 million settlement reached with the attorneys general of California, Oregon, and Illinois , Bayer will be barred from marketing its drugs with assertions not based on sound and reliable scientific evidence.

"Bayer sought to increase the sale of OAD [One-a-Day] Men's Products by deceptively leveraging fear of prostate cancer," the complaint charged. "Bayer made both express and implied promotional claims that misrepresented that OAD Men's Products reduce a man's risk of developing prostate cancer."

It will soon become a bit easier to compare calorie, fat and probably sugar and salt information when grocery shopping. The food products and the grocery industry on Wednesday announced that some nutritional information displayed on the sides of packaging will soon be more prominently featured on the front as well.

Virtually all major food makers will begin offering the information up front beginning early next year, acting voluntarily, though under a lot of pressure.

The Product: InStyler
The Price: $99 in stores: Online promotion: $139.96 (including shipping and handling) for 2 InStylers; $104.72 (including shipping and handling) for 1.
The Claims: Transforms hair from straw into silk.
Buy-O-Meter Rating: 3 out of 5

Dollar Tree is recalling nearly 700,000 Halloween-themed battery-powered lanterns over concerns they could start fires, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

The plastic lanterns were molded to look like either a pumpkin, ghost or skull. The CPSC said the bulbs can overheat and Dollar Tree said it received a complaint about one overheating.

Systemax, a computer retailer, and its subsidiaries, Tigerdirect and Onrebate, will pay the state of Florida $200,000 and donate $100,000 to the Florida Alliance of Boys and Girls Club as part of a deal to settle allegations the companies failed to issue rebates to consumers as advertised.

The Florida Attorney General's Office, which began investigating the companies in April 2007, is dismissing the complaint as part of the settlement. However, the agreement requires the companies to process rebates as advertised and take steps to make sure they are handled properly.

The state looked into the companies after complaints from consumers that they were falsely led to believe through product ads they would receive rebates within eight to 10 weeks. The companies said that any delays in issuing rebates were because of computer error or an inefficient process. The companies also said the problems were addressed as soon as they learned about them.

No one from Systemax could be reached for comment. The donation to the Boys and Girls Club will go to buy computer equipment.

Meijer recalled certain Falls Creek infant boys' shoes because lace toggles might detach, creating a choking risk to baby boys, said the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

About 2,300 pairs of the Falls Creek infant boys' brown leather casual shoes with bungee laces and toggles were sold in Meijer stores nationwide from July to September 2010 for about $15. The shoes came in infant sizes 5 to 10 and have Falls Creek imprinted on the soles.

So far, there have been no reports of injuries, CPSC said. Consumers should take the shoes away from children, and can either remove the toggles to get rid of the problem or return the shoes to any Meijer store for a refund. The company is based in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Consumers can call the company at (800) 927-8699 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday.