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BBB tips to prevent scammers from ruining your holiday season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

ST. LOUIS – “Around the holidays, we really need to be mindful about what can happen to us as consumers,” Sarah Wetzel, Better Business Bureau St. Louis, said.Wetzel has some things to keep in mind if you’re doing your holiday shopping online.“You want to make sure the seller is legitimate,” she said. “You want to make sure you’re taking the steps and that you’re researching that seller, especially if it’s on social media.”Red flags include accounts without profile pictures and newer profiles potentially created with the intent to scam consumers. If your seller asks you to pay with digital platforms like Zelle, CashApp, or Venmo, Wetzel says beware.“The reason they want you to do this is because it’s not traceable. It’s essentially like giving them a wad of cash, and they can just run away with it,” she said. “The likelihood of you getting that back is not good.”Wetzel recommends using more secure payment methods, like credit cards. Wetzel says scammers are using phony websites and ...

L.A. man convicted for arranging hundreds of sham marriages

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

A 42-year-old man from Los Angeles has been convicted by a federal jury in Boston for his participation in arranging more than 300 “sham marriages” for the purpose of getting around U.S. immigration laws, authorities announced Thursday. Engilbert Ulan, a Philippine national who lives in L.A., was convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.  “Ulan was arrested and charged along with 11 others in April 2022 in connection with the marriage fraud ‘agency’ operated by Marcialito ‘Mars’ Benitez,” authorities said.  Starting around 2019, Ulan, Benitez and other co-conspirators ran the large-scale marriage fraud operation out of brick-and-mortar offices in Los Angeles. As part of the illegal scheme, the 42-year-old worked to arrange hundreds of spurious marriages between foreign national “clients” and legitimate U.S. citizens, including one foreign national living ...

Sharks’ center reveals painful reason why he missed Monday’s game

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl on Thursday revealed the painful reason why he had to miss one of the team’s games earlier this week.Hertl said after the Sharks’ 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden that he had a kidney stone and needed a surgical procedure on Monday to have it removed.“It was a pretty (crappy) situation,” Hertl said. “It was pretty painful, but I felt good for tonight, so I jumped in.”Hertl did not participate in the Sharks’ morning skate in Boston but came out for pregame warmups and was later inserted into the lineup once coach David Quinn knew the forward was good to go.Hertl had 22:08 of ice time with one shot on net, as he and linemates Mike Hoffman and William Eklund were each -2 for the game. The Sharks fell to 0-10-0 on the road this season.Still, the Sharks are glad to have Hertl back, as he leads the team with 16 points, and is tops among all forwards in average time on ice (20:56 before Thursday),Hertl p...

Cal offensive coordinator Jake Spavital leaves to join Baylor

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

Jake Spavital is leaving Cal after one season to become offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baylor, where head coach and defensive specialist Dave Aranda was retained after a 3-9 season.Aranda, who is 23-25 in his four seasons, announced Spavital’s hiring Thursday. That came four days after offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes was fired by the Bears after three seasons in that role.Spavital is coming off his second one-year stint as offensive coordinator at Cal, where he also was in 2016. He began his coaching career as West Virginia’s quarterbacks coach from 2011-12, then went to Texas A&M as offensive coordinator/QBs coach for three seasons. His first departure from Cal came to return to West Virginia at OC from 2017-18 before four seasons as head coach at FBS team Texas State.“I am excited to get back to Texas and thankful for the opportunity to work with Dave and his staff,” Spavital said. “I’ve admired Dave from afar for quite some time and have always viewed him a...

Andrew Wiggins out Thursday due to unusual injury

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The Golden State Warriors are without forward Andrew Wiggins against the Los Angeles Clippers Thursday, but it is not due to an injury he suffered on the court. Head Coach Steve Kerr said that Wiggins injured his index finger when he slammed it in a car door Thursday morning. Kerr said that Wiggins went through shootaround before the game but as soon as he saw him warm up, he knew he wouldn't be able to play. 49ers QB Brock Purdy reveals his In-N-Out order "He barely, couldn't shoot, couldn't put much pressure on it, so I figured he'd be out," Kerr said. "Just a tough blow for him and for us." Kerr believes the injury will be short-term. He said before the game that he did not see any imaging on the finger, but Wiggins does not believe it will be serious. Wiggins joins Chris Paul and Gary Payton II as players out for Thursday's game. Payton suffered a calf injury and Paul has a nerve injury in his leg. The injuries will open up minutes for players such as ...

Mathew Barzal has goal and 3 assists, Islanders outlast Hurricanes 5-4 in OT

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Mathew Barzal scored at 2:46 of overtime to lift the New York Islanders past Carolina, 5-4 on Thursday night after the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho tied it with 2.5 second left in regulation.Barzal added three assists and Semyon Varlamov stopped 39 shots to help the Islanders win for the fourth time in six games.Kyle Palmieri, Pierre Engvall, Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom also scored for New York.Aho scored with goalie Pyotr Kochetkov off for an extra skater, beating Varlamov and the clock. Jalen Chatfield, Jordan Staal and Jack Drury added goals for Carolina. Kochetkov made 11 saves.Palmieri beat Kochetkov with a backhander on a power play at 6:41 in the third period to break a 3-3 tie. A delay-of-game penalty on Staal gave the Islanders the power play.The Islanders didn’t have a shot attempt for the first 12 minutes of the second period, and only 10 shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, but still managed to take a 3-2 lead into the third period.Engvall ska...

Goalie Tristan Jarry scores into empty net Penguins’ 4-2 victory over Lightning

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Goalie Tristan Jarry scored an empty-net goal and made 39 saves in the Pittsburgh Penguins; 4-2 comeback victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Thursday night.Jarry stopped a dump-in and sent the puck end-to-end into the net with 1:08 left.Jeff Carter scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for the Penguins, who also got goals from Sidney Crosby and Drew O’Connor.Steven Stamkos and Tanner Jeannot scored for the Lightning. NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had two assists to tie his career high with an eight-game points streak. He finished with a team-record 28 points (in 14 games) for the month of November.Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots.BRUINS 3, SHARKS 0BOSTON (AP) — Paval Zacha had a goal and an assist and Boston beat San Jose to end a three-game losing streak.Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk also scored. Jeremy Swayman — pulled Monday night in a 5-2 loss to Columbus — stopped 28 shots he faced for his second shutout this season.Dav...

Young scores 45 as Hawks rally past Wembanyama, Sochan to hand Spurs 13th straight loss

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Trae Young scored a season-high 45 points and drew a charge from Jeremy Sochan with 2.7 seconds left as the Atlanta Hawks handed the San Antonio Spurs their 13th straight loss with a 137-135 victory on Thursday night.Sochan matched his career high with 33 points and Victor Wembanyama had 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for San Antonio, but the Spurs remained without a win since Nov. 2.Atlanta guard Dejounte Murray had 24 points and five steals in his third game against his former team. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 14 points as Atlanta snapped a two-game skid.Devin Vassell added 25 points and Keldon Johnson had 22. Sochan was 11 for 13 from the field but wouldn’t lead the Spurs to their first win since consecutive victories over Phoenix on Oct. 31 and Nov. 2The Spurs dominated early behind Wembanyama, leading by as many as 15 points in the first half. San Antonio made its first six attempts in taking a 16-7 lead four minutes into the game.Wembanyama scored ...

AP Week in Pictures: Global | Nov. 24 – Nov. 30, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

NOVEMBER 24 – 30, 2023From young Sikhs lighting candles at the illuminated Golden Temple in India, to a Christmas Market in Frankfurt, to demonstrations on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, this photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images from around the world made or published by The Associated Press in the past week.The selection was curated by AP photo editor Eloy Martin in Spain.Follow AP visual journalism:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnewsAP Images on X: http://twitter.com/AP_ImagesAP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com/Source

Cavaliers booed at home during ‘worst’ loss this season as Trail Blazers beat Cleveland 103-95

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:14:59 GMT

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell heard the boos directed at him and his teammates as the game slipped away in the the fourth quarter.He felt they were warranted.“If you don’t play well,” Mitchell said, “that’s what you get.”Cleveland had a major letdown following a solid win with its worst loss this season, 103-95 on Thursday night to the Portland Trail Blazers, who pulled off their second impressive road victory this week.Shaedon Sharpe scored 29 points, rookie Duop Reath added a season-high 13 and Jabari Walker had 12 rebounds for Portland, which came in just 5-12 overall and 3-7 away from home. On Monday, the Blazers won 114-110 at Indiana.The Cavs may have been a little overconfident after playing so well in a 23-point win over Atlanta on Tuesday in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament. But whatever momentum Cleveland built, in what has been an up-and-down season so far, is gone.“We’ve said this from the beginning, we want to be a championship-caliber team and we’re not playing...