Q: Dear BBB,
My friend claims to have accidentally installed a virus on his computer while surfing Facebook. He thinks the virus is monitoring his Internet activity stealing his personal information. Is this possible?
~ Facebook Fan
A: Facebook Fan,
RIGHT, there are a number of viruses and scams targeting Facebook users and other social networking sites. In December a virus known as Koobface hit Facebook and MySpace. Victims received a message from their friend saying “You look awesome in this video” with a link to an outside Web site to view the video. When they clicked on the link a window opened claiming and updated version of Flash needed to be installed. What they ended up installing was a virus designed to steal personal information. Social networking site users need to be extremely wary of messages from friends or strangers that direct them to another site via a hyperlink. For more information on social networking scams visit vi.bbb.org
Q: Dear BBB,
My daughter has signed up for a trial membership at a fitness centre as part of her New Years resolution. After 2 weeks she decided she didn’t like the gym and tried to cancel the membership only to find out she is stuck in a 2-year contract with outrageous monthly payments, especially for a college student. I don’t think the sales reps were clear with her about the cancellation policy. Isn’t there a law protecting her from getting stuck in long-term contracts like this?
~ Concerned Caregiver
A: Concerned Caregiver,
WRONG, there isn’t a law that specifically protects people from signing up for long-term contracts. However, there are regulations about continuing sales contracts that health and fitness centres must follow. Every year the BBB receives complaints from consumers who had good intentions to get in shape, but then for whatever reason changed their minds about the program they signed up for and now want to cancel a long-term contract. It’s really up to the consumer to do their research and fully understand what they are committing to before they sign up for health and fitness programs. By law you only have 10 days from the time of signing up to cancel a continuing sales contract. I’m guessing this is the part of the “trial membership” period that your daughter misunderstood. The Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority (BPCPA.ca) has excellent information about what you need to consider before entering into a fitness or weight loss program contract. It’s important that you understand your rights and responsibilities before you sign any contract. This might be one of those hard and expensive life lessons that you daughter will have to learn from.