Consumer

Consumer Scammers posing as your friend on Facebook out to rip you off (Video)

By Kerry Tomlinson KATU Problem Solver Published: Apr 25, 2013 at 8:00 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 24, 2013 at 4:50 PM PDT

They take over your friends' identities. Then they start chatting with you as your friend. And soon they're trying to trick you out of your money.

Consumer Are you taking your medicine the right way?

By Herb Weisbaum Published: Apr 24, 2013 at 9:27 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 24, 2013 at 9:27 AM PDT

About half the medications for chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, are not taken correctly. People skip doses or take fewer pills than needed.

Consumer Brewing at home: 'It's super-easy to make really good coffee' (Video)

By Kerry Tomlinson, KATU Problem Solver and KATU.com Staff Published: Apr 23, 2013 at 11:35 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 26, 2013 at 1:46 PM PDT

Are you paying too much for your café-crafted drinks? We went on a tour of five different coffee-making methods, each with its own flavor, that you can make at home.

Consumer LED light bulbs now more affordable than ever

By Herb Weisbaum Published: Apr 23, 2013 at 8:46 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 23, 2013 at 8:46 AM PDT

LED's create light with very little energy. In fact, they use about a tenth of the electricity of an incandescent bulb that gives off the same amount of light.

Consumer Consumer Reports: Paying with your smart phone (Video)

By Tyler Slauson Published: Apr 22, 2013 at 5:26 PM PDT Last Updated: Apr 22, 2013 at 5:35 PM PDT

Over the last year, people are starting to pay for stuff by waving, sliding, or tapping their smart phones.

Consumer Warning! Fake Publishers Clearing House scams (Video)

By Connie Thompson Published: Apr 22, 2013 at 7:54 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 22, 2013 at 7:54 AM PDT

Publishers Clearing House will give a million dollar prize to some lucky winner this month. Unfortunately, thousands of people will be duped by con artists pretending to be PCH.

Consumer Prepaid cards can be a good choice - if you choose wisely (Video)

By Herb Weisbaum, NBCNews.com Published: Apr 19, 2013 at 8:29 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 19, 2013 at 8:29 AM PDT

Prepaid debit cards are the hot financial product right now. American consumers are expected to load $200 billion on these cards this year -- a 600 percent increase from 2010.

Consumer Steer clear of marathon disaster relief scams (Video)

By Connie Thompson Published: Apr 18, 2013 at 8:47 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 18, 2013 at 1:39 PM PDT

Our hearts go out to strangers more than three thousand miles away. No matter the disaster, people in Washington state are known for giving. But where we see caring and compassion scammers see opportunity to cash in our sympathy.

Consumer Pet food recall expanded (Video)

By Connie Thompson Published: Apr 16, 2013 at 7:58 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 16, 2013 at 7:58 AM PDT

If your dog or get eats dry pet food - check the brand. Natura Pet Products just expanded the recall of its dry foods for puppies, kittens and adult dogs and cats. The company says salmonella bacteria was detected in some foods during tests at the plant.

Consumer Consumer Reports: New generic drugs = big savings (Video)

By Tyler Slauson Published: Apr 15, 2013 at 9:15 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 15, 2013 at 3:30 PM PDT

Atorvastatin, the generic for Lipitor, is now widely prescribed to combat high cholesterol. Consumer Reports checked out prices of atorvastatin at more than 200 pharmacies, including Walgreens, CVS, Target, Walmart, and Costco, as well as independent and supermarket pharmacies and online.

Consumer Retailers recall potentially dangerous magnetic sets

By Connie Thompson Published: Apr 15, 2013 at 10:36 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 15, 2013 at 10:36 AM PDT

After years of warnings about the danger of tiny, high-powered magnets, six major retailers are pulling Buckyballs and Buckycubes off the shelf.

Consumer Research firm: PC sales plunge as Windows 8 flops

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writers Published: Apr 10, 2013 at 3:27 PM PDT Last Updated: Apr 10, 2013 at 6:14 PM PDT

IDC says PC global shipments of PCs fell 14 percent in the first three months this year, the sharpest plunge seen since the research firm started tracking the industry in 1994.

Consumer Is it Alzheimer's or just forgetfulness

By Herb Weisbaum Published: Apr 10, 2013 at 9:03 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 10, 2013 at 9:03 AM PDT

You get older, you get more forgetful. Trust me, I know. This is a normal part of aging. It doesn't mean you have Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia. So how do you know?

Consumer Full flights, small seats make passengers grumpy

By JOAN LOWY Associated Press Published: Apr 7, 2013 at 9:48 PM PDT Last Updated: Apr 9, 2013 at 8:55 AM PDT

Airlines keep shrinking the size of seats to stuff more people onto planes, those empty middle seats that once provided a little more room are now occupied and more people with tickets are being turned away because flights are overbooked.

Consumer Yes, you can teach cats to obey commands

By Herb Weisbaum Published: Apr 8, 2013 at 8:37 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 8, 2013 at 8:37 AM PDT

Yes, cats are different from dogs, but you can teach them to do tricks or obey commands. The trick is to start the training when they're a kitten.