green living, smart spending
Welcome to 2025 and a barrage of suspect emails.I’ve been swamped so far this year with phony emails supposedly from American Airlines, Medicare and other health insurance providers, alerts that I’ve won a free seat cushion or tool set, another collection from senders who aren’t really FedEx, and several warning me – helpfully – that there’s a virus on my computer.
Scammers and fraudsters know that online dating websites see a surge in sign-ups between New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day, and the bad guys are busy trolling for lonely men and women, especially seniors living alone. Avoid these romance scams that will break your heart, even steal your life savings.
Thousands of people have lost their homes, businesses and jobs, in the devastation fires which ripped through Los Angeles and Southern California. Choose one of these top-rated local or national charities to support with a donation to help victims with life-saving food, water, clothing and medical services, and start the rebuilding, including roads and power lines.
Beware of the email or text scam that says “check your order”, “your order status”, “your order cannot be shipped” or something similar, from businesses you are likely to shop, including Walmart, Costco, Amazon, Target Walgreens, FedEx and NetFlix. Since more of us are ordering more online these days, it is more important than ever to be vigilant about responding to online orders, which could be a scam.
There’s always more happening than we can report here on ecoXplorer. So here’s what we’ve been reading about travel, automotive, food, fraud and the environment that you might have missed, along with news about my hometown New York City – from publications you might not follow, but we do. We link only to intel that’s
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If you are considering donating your vehicle for a tax deduction, think carefully before donating it to Kars4Kids. The car donation charity gets low ratings from charity watchdog rating services and has been accused repeatedly of misleading donors and misusing funds.
New York City is back on top of the tourism map, which means many visitors are traveling between LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty airports and Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island. As a native and lifelong New Yorker, these are my recommendations for the most reliable and affordable public transportation, car services and licensed taxis,
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New York City is back on top of the tourism map, which means many visitors are traveling between LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty airports and Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island. LaGuardia Airport transportation can be as little as $2.90 per person for public transportation or as much as $100 for a car service
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Listen up if you are a recent user of the online payment app Cash App – you could be getting money back because of a massive security breach that may have compromised your data, and any financial losses you suffered. Cash App has just reached a proposed a $15 million dollar settlement in a lawsuit
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Scam Alert – Direct payment apps like Paypal, Venmo and Zelle are being used increasingly by scammers to steal your money, your identity, or both, including taking advantage of online shopping by impersonating banks and other well-known companies. You won’t be able to get your money back, so here’s what to watch out for to
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