Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • 30

C6 The Sunday Journal BUSINESS MONEY Albuquerque, December 12, 20G4 Shoppers: Be wary of special offers VERB campaign targets young folk doctorate in engineering-economic systems and operations research from Stanford University. Chavez is the son of Ray and Rose Chavez of Albuquerque. A 1986 graduate of Albuquerque Academy, Chavez touts the importance of education, noting that he was "lucky to be educated by several bright teachers in different classes along the way." And he stresses the importance of education for young Hispanics entering the work force in today's competitive world. "If you don't have your Mart or Macys gift certificate for those who fill out an online survey, she said How to fight back? Never click on a link in an unsolicited e-mail message. One simple click could trigger a malicious program that logs any keystrokes you then make on your computer.

Far more common, however, is that the link sends consumers to a fake Web site, where they're asked to fill in personal information, which scammers then use to steal their financial assets or identity. If you've got any questions about your accounts, exit the e-mail message and navigate to the company's Web site yourself, or call the store. Don't Ignore return policies Don't shop till you drop thinking you can return anything you don't like; Some retailers are reining in their return policies, and customers who claim too many returns could get denied at the cash register. Ask retailers about their policies and be sure to include receipts with gifts so your family and friends aren't stuck with what would otherwise be a lovely gift. Donate directly, not from a phone pitch The holidays may be for giving, but watch out for telemarketers asking for donations.

Charities are exempt from the do-not-call law, so there's no legal problem with the calL But they often hire for-profit firms to do their phone work for them. The problem: From 25 cents to 90 cents of your donated dollar will go to the for-profit company, said Trent Stamp, executive director of Charity Navigator, a Web site that researches and rates charities. If you get one of these phone calls and the charity sounds good to you, the best thing to do is hang up the phone, research the charity and go contact them directly," Stamp saidV Pon't overlook gift-card fees 1 This year, 74 percent of consumers plan to buy gift cards, up from about 70 percent last year, and they'll spend more than $17 billion on the cards, up from $100 million last year, according to a National Retail Federation survey of 7,300 consumers. some consumers will spend more for the privilege than others. Buying a bank-' issued gift card is convenient you can make purchases anywhere MasterCard, Visa or American Express is accepted but you'll pay $5 to $10 for the card itself, while store gift cards have no such up-front fee, according to Consumer Reports Money Adviser.

Also, many cards have expiration dates and nonuse fees. That means recipients could pay up to $10 a month in the months they don't use the card. Check with the store or financial institution before you buy, and if you receive a card as a gift, find out when it expires. Avoid delaying payments on bills No matter how tight your budget gets this season, avoid delaying payment on any bills. While it makes sense to get credit-card bills paid quickly to dodge late fees as high as $39, note that if credit-card issuers see that you're late on other bills, they're likely to raise your credit-card rates.

"Even if you pay your credit card exactly on time, if you fail to make any other payment say you don't pay your phone bill, you pay your landlord late, you pay your mortgage late that nonpayment becomes an event of default under your credit-card agreement and they bump up your rate to the high default rate," debt educator Gross said, adding that creditors routinely monitor credit reports and other payment databases. from PAGE CI card that has a billing cycle that doesn't coincide with the program payment she added. That means your final payment for the product could be a month too late and a full year's interest will then kick in. Monitor the specific date the final payment is due. Don't click on links In e-receipts Maybe you know a phishing e-mail when you see a near-perfect imitation of your bank's corporate identity, but where will e-mail scammers venture next in their efforts to get personal financial information? As retail activity heats up closer to the holidays, expect to see fake shopping-confirmation notices from your favorite retailers.

At this time of year, consumers on a tight budget may be particularly vulnerable to the lure of winning extra spending money through new phishing scams, including fake work-at-home opportunities or cash in exchange for completing an online survey. "There are various ways they are going to offer the consumer a quick fix to a Christmas financial problem," Larson added. Already, messages are appearing that promise a Wal- Motorola V300 Integrated camera phone It's like buy one, get one FREE 3 from PAGE CI Gray says. "It leads to diabetes, heart attacks, strokes and other health problems. We will try to get our children active and get their health problems down." The Grays point out that research shows 38.5 percent of American Indian and Alaskan Native children are overweight.

In addition, these two groups have the highest diabetes rates in the world. In some tribes, 50 percent of the population has diabetes. They also said 28 percent of American Indians and Alaskan Natives are smokers, compared to 16 percent of whites. specific target is the American Indian and Alaskan Native. The campaign will go throughout the United States, from Alaska to Florida, from Maine to California," says Michael Gray, of Blackf eet Cree Chipewa heritage, who started the firm in 1997.

This is not the first national campaign that has involved Previously, it worked on an anti-drug campaign for the Office of the National Drug Control Policy, Washington, D.C. Leadership award A native New Mexican received one of the five "Outstanding Leadership of the Year Awards" presented this year by Hispanic-Net. Tom Chavez, a founder and CEO of Rapt was awarded the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award at the Hispanic-Net's annual banquet held recently in Palo Alto, Calif. Hispanic-Net is an organization of Hispanic entrepreneurs, business executives and senior professionals in high tech and Internet-related companies. 7.

Chavez, who how lives in San Francisco, founded Rapt after working at Sun Microsystems, where he was in product planning and management, and at Rockwell's Palo Alto Science Lab, where he did research in decision analysis. He holds a bachelor of arts degree, with magna cum laude honors, in computer science and philosophy from Harvard University. He also has a degree, competing against more educated workers is going to be hard," he says. "If you already have your college degree and CHAVEZ: Honored for leadership by Hispanic-Net are contemplating going a step further with your education, push forward. "As my mother used to tell us when we were little, you've got to be 10 times more talented, 10 times better-equipped than the Anglo if you're going to rise to high places on your own merits." And, he says, persistence is everything.

"Don't relent. And don't make excuses if you're falling short of your goals. It's on you, no one else." Chavez recalls when he was trying to get his own company funded, that other people from his graduate program at Stanford had an easier time getting meetings with prominent venture capitalists in Silicon Valley than he could. "It had everything to do with the quality of their professional networks," he said. "I feel that Hispanic-Net's mission is an important and urgent one.

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