FEDINFO E-letter from Pueblo, July 2007

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TEMPORARY TRAVEL FLEXIBILITY FOR U.S. CITIZENS WITH PENDING PASSPORT APPLICATIONS

The Departments of State and Homeland Security recently relaxed passport requirements for U.S. citizens visiting Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. Until September 30, 2007, U.S. citizens who have applied for but not yet received passports can travel to and from these locations with a government-issued photo ID and official proof of application for a passport. This change occurred as a result of a huge increase in passport applications and longer than expected processing times.

For more information about the temporary change in travel guidelines, visit FCIC’s News and Notes section.

The State Department is also issuing refunds of expedited passport fees to customers who paid for expedited service but did not receive their passports within the established timeframe. For details on how to request a refund, go to the State Department’s refund instructions page.

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PAYDAY LOANS = COSTLY CASH Payday loans sign

You’ve probably heard or seen the ads for payday loans:

“NEED CASH UNTIL PAYDAY?”
“FAST CASH...INSTANT APPROVAL!”
“NO CREDIT CHECKS!”

Sound appealing? Before you take action, make sure you know the facts about payday loans. Payday loans, also called cash advance loans, check advance loans, post-dated check loans or deferred deposit check loans, are short-term loans with very high interest rates.

For example, let's say you write a personal check for $115 to borrow $100 for up to 14 days. The check casher or payday lender agrees to hold the check until your next payday. At that time, depending on the particular plan, the lender deposits the check, you redeem the check by paying the $115 in cash, or you roll-over the check by paying a fee to extend the loan for another two weeks. In this example, the cost of the initial loan is a $15 finance charge which is equivalent to an annual percentage rate (APR) of 391 percent. If you roll-over the loan three times, the finance charge would climb to $60 to borrow $100.

To get more details about payday loans as well as alternatives to payday loans, check out: FTC’s Consumer Alert.

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WORK-AT-HOME SCAMS JUST DON’T PAY Stack of envelops

Want an easy way to earn extra money from the comfort of your own home? You're not alone. Working at home has become increasingly attractive. Unfortunately, as the number of jobs grows in response to public interest, so have bogus job offers.

There are two basic types of scams:

Work at home jobs that involve envelope stuffing, assembling crafts or other items, or other tasks where you are (supposedly) paid by a company as an employee.
Home-based business opportunities, such as medical billing, in which you have to send in money to get training materials and start-up equipment. However, the only money anyone sees is the money in the scammer’s pockets.

Work-at-home scams have cost victims thousands of dollars. Check out all jobs before responding. Legitimate companies provide information in writing.

U.S. Postal Inspectors offer these tips:

Don't give out personal information to a person or company you don't know.
Be suspicious of any offer that doesn't pay a regular salary or involves working for an overseas company.
Check the company with the FTC, Better Business Bureau, or your state Attorney General.

You can order a free DVD from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service about work-at-home scams.

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GARDENING THE SAFE AND HEALTHY WAY A girl is watering the flowers.

Gardening can be a great way to get physical activity, beautify the community, and grow nutritious fruits and vegetables. Whether you are a beginner or expert gardener, health and safety are important.

Below are some tips to help keep you safe and healthy so that you can enjoy the beauty and bounty gardening can bring.

Dress to protect with the proper shoes, protective eye gear, gloves, etc.
Put safety first. Carefully follow operating instructions for gardening equipment and tools.
Watch out for heat-related illness and sunburn.
Enjoy the benefits of physical activity, but know your limitations.
Learn to identify poison ivy and poison oak.
If you have deer in your area, dress to keep ticks away and watch out for symptoms of Lyme disease.

Check out CDC’s Health and Safety Guide for Gardeners for more information

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FREE PUBLICATIONS Free sign.

FCIC frequently has special offers of free publications mentioned in magazines and newspapers around the country. We want to give you an opportunity to order these publications online--even if you didn't see the original article. You can find these promotions on our Free Publication Offers page. You can also sign up for e-mail notices to find out when new offers have been added.

Note: Some of the older offers mentioned on the page have ended but they provide links to the publications online or you can order a free sample package of currently-available publications.

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Previous issues of the FEDINFO E-letter can be found at: www.pueblo.gsa.gov/fedinfonews/fedinfoarchives.htm.

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This service is provided free of charge by the Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) at Pueblo, CO, your one-stop source for information about consumer problems and government services. Visit us at www.pueblo.gsa.gov.

For questions or problems with this subscription service, e-mail updates@pueblo.gsa.gov. For inquiries related to FCIC, email us.

Issue 2007-3