As seen in the New York Daily News.
Mortgage relief
New Yorkers struggling with mortgage debt may soon get some help.
National nonprofit credit counseling firm Money Management International will offer qualified homeowners debt relief and housing counseling in a program made possible by a $1 million grant from HSBC.
Applicants must be at least a month behind, but no more than two, on their mortgage payments to qualify for a grant up to $5,000. They also must attend counseling and educational sessions over the next year.
Point, click and spend
Commerce on the Web is growing rapidly, a new report found.
Retail commerce on the Internet was 23% higher in the second quarter of this year than during the same time last year, according to a report by comScore, which tracks traffic and commerce in the digital world.
Online travel spending increased 14% to $20.3 billion.
According to the report, total e-commerce worldwide reached $95 billion during the first half of 2007. Total U.S. e-commerce spending climbed 19% to $47.5 billion.
IRS workers fail audit
Employees at the IRS ignored rules and turned over sensitive computer information to a caller posing as a technical support person, according to a government study.
No fewer than 61 of the 102 people who got the calls, including managers and a contractor, agreed to give their user names and change their passwords to one that the caller suggested, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
By failing to question the identity of the caller, the report said, the employees made the IRS vulnerable to scammers who could use taxpayer data to commit fraud.
–with Daniel Carty