Prices at the wholesale level rose 6.3% in June

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index climbed to 208.5, up 6.3% year over year and 1.6% month over month, reflecting seasonal strength despite tariff-driven volatility.

• Retail demand remains solid as off-lease supply continues to tighten, supporting higher used-vehicle values.

• The used-vehicle market is showing signs of normalization and resilience, outperforming the new-vehicle segment in terms of stability.

The wholesale used-vehicle market posted a notable uptick in June, defying the typical seasonal downtrend and signaling continued strength in a sector buoyed by resilient demand and tightening supply. That suggests prices on used car lots may continue to rise.

According to the latest data from Cox Automotive, the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, which tracks vehicle prices at the wholesale level, rose to 208.5, a 6.3% increase from a year ago and up 1.6% from May after seasonal adjustments.

Tariffs, which are making new cars more expensive, were likely a factor. However, despite the seasonally adjusted index showing a monthly rise, non-adjusted wholesale prices actually fell by 1.1% in June, a sharper-than-usual decline. This disconnect was largely attributed to price volatility following recent tariff announcements that disrupted new-vehicle supply chains and trickled down to affect used-vehicle dynamics.

Wholesale appreciation trends have been more volatile over Q2 as tariffs really impacted new sales and supply, said Jeremy Robb, senior director of Economic and Industry Insights at Cox Automotive. Even so, retail sales continue to run a bit hotter than prior years.

Signs of market stabilization

Industry experts see encouraging signs that the used market is returning to a more stable rhythm after years of pandemic-induced turbulence.

Historically, the used market has been incredibly consistent; but the pandemic disrupted much of that consistency, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive. What we are seeing suggests we could finally be out of that pattern.

Improved supply bolstered by trade-ins linked to new-vehicle sales earlier this year is contributing to a more normalized market. This balance between supply and demand is expected to support continued price strength in the second half of 2025.

Elevated depreciation trends

While June saw stronger index readings overall, weekly data from the Manheim Market Report (MMR) indicated elevated depreciation, especially in the latter half of the month. MMR values fell each week, culminating in a 0.6% drop in the final week.

Over four weeks, three-year-old vehicles depreciated by 1.3%, a much steeper decline than the 0.6% historical average for the same period.

Still, the average daily sales conversion rate rose to 57.8%, up over 1 percentage point from May and well above the three-year June average of 53.1%, signaling continued retail demand.

The luxury vehicle segment once again led price appreciation, climbing 8.8% year over year, followed by SUVs at 6.0%. In contrast, compact cars declined by 0.1% the only segment to register a drop while mid-size sedans and trucks posted modest gains of 2.8%.

Retail used-vehicle sales slipped 1.5% from May but remained 2% higher than June 2024. Listing prices edged up 0.3%, and days supply remained unchanged month-over-month at 45 days still slightly tighter than last years 46-day supply.

In contrast, new-vehicle sales slumped. June saw a 14.2% drop from May and a 4.2% year-over-year decline, dragged down by cooling demand and tariff pressures. Retail new sales were estimated to be 3.0% lower than a year ago, with the fleet share dipping to 17.6%.

Will a weakened CFPB be up to the job of protecting consumers from rogues and charlatans?

Consumers are encouraged to be extra vigilant during these high-traffic sales

• Scammers ramp up their efforts during Prime Day, using tactics like phishing emails, fake websites, and fraudulent order confirmations to steal personal and financial information.

• Key red flags include suspicious domain names, urgent or emotional language, unofficial sender addresses, and poor formattingall signs that a message or site may be a scam.

• Experts recommend using a cautious, Zero Trust approach, verifying sites before clicking, keeping devices updated, enabling two-factor authentication, and going directly to Amazons website rather than clicking links.

Amazons Prime Day is the perfect time for shoppers to score big savings on everything electronics, kitchen essentials, baby items, clothes, toys, and more.

However, in addition to the sales, its also the perfect time for scammers to take advantage of vulnerable consumers looking for deals.

To help spot these and avoid them ConsumerAffairs interviewed Darren Williams, Founder and CEO at BlackFog, and Dave Meister, Global Channel Leader at the Office of the CTO, at Check Point.

What are the biggest associated with Prime Day?

Meister explained that scammers main goal during Prime Day is to steal consumers personal information and payment details. He broke down some of the most popular that happen during Prime Day:

• Phishing emails

• SMS phishing (SMiShing)

• Fake login pages

• Fraudulent order confirmations

Amazon Prime Day is a goldmine for cybercriminals, Williams explained. The surge in promotional emails, limited-time offers, and high-volume online activity creates ideal conditions for phishing, malware delivery, and fraudulent transactions.

What often begins as a simple consumer scam like a fake delivery notification or a spoofed Amazon deal can quickly escalate into credential theft and data exfiltration that puts entire enterprises at risk.

How to spot

Meister shared his best tips for identifying during Prime Day.

Spotting Prime Day starts with slowing down and looking closely at the details, he said. Bad actors rely on urgency, distraction and emotion to get people to click before thinking. Here are a few red flags every shopper should watch for:

• Check the domain name carefully: Anything other than amazon.com should raise suspicions. Scammers often create lookalike siteslike amazon-2025[.]top or amazon02atonline51[.]onlinethat appear legitimate at first glance but are designed to steal your login credentials or payment info.

• Be wary of urgent or emotionally charged language: Subject lines like Refund Due System Error or Account Suspended are classic phishing tactics meant to panic users into clicking a malicious link. Legitimate companies like Amazon wont demand immediate action via sketchy links.

• Scrutinize the senders email address: A real Amazon email will always come from an official @amazon.com domainnot something like support-amazon-check[.]com.

• Hover over all links before clicking: On desktop, hovering over a link will show the destination URL. If it looks off or doesnt clearly lead to amazon.com, dont click.

• Don't follow a link: Rather than following a link, go directly to the Amazon website, app or Google Prime Days to find the real website, bypassing any possible phishing links.

• Look for poor grammar, odd formatting, or blurry logos: These are telltale signs of a hastily thrown-together scam site or message.

• Trust your instincts: If a deal or message seems offlike winning a giveaway you never enteredit probably is.

Avoid falling for Prime Day

Williams encourages consumers to be vigilant during Prime Day, as they should always verify the legitimacy of websites and apps before downloading or purchasing.

Keeping devices up to date and ensuring that security tools are active is essential, but so is awareness, he said. Understanding how social engineering works and how cybercriminals use urgency and distraction to trick users is one of the best defenses. A Zero Trust mindset and attention to detail can go a long way in staying safe.

Another trick that is often used is to request validation of your login credentials. Amazon will never do this and will never ask for your personal information. Additionally, it is really important that you have two-factor authentication enabled. This will ensure that attackers cannot easily gain access to your account.

Unsolicited job offers are almost certainly

By Truman Lewis of ConsumerAffairs

• You don't get legitimate job offers from companies you didn't apply to.
• Anyone who wants money from you is probably not offering you a legitimate job.
• Be very careful corresponding with anyone who doesn't have an official, corporate email account and website.

Scammers posing as recruiters for high-profile companies are preying on job seekers with fake remote job offers, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned this week, as reports of employment-related fraud continue to surge across the country.

Scammers are always hiring, but they dont actually want to employ you, the FTC said in its latest advisory. Instead, they want your money, personal information, or both.

Fake offers arriving by text and email

The often begin with emails or texts that appear to come from legitimate employers, offering remote jobs with attractive salaries and benefits. These messages frequently include official-looking logos, sophisticated language, and even links to seemingly professional websites.

But a closer look reveals red flags. Scammers may use personal email accounts such as @gmail.com or @yahoo.com instead of corporate email domains. After initial contact, they often rush applicants into sharing sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers, bank account details, or copies of drivers licenses under the guise of setting up direct deposit or completing employment paperwork.

Real employers wont ask for that kind of information before theyve actually interviewed and hired you, the FTC emphasized.

cost victims millions

Job are far from a new phenomenon, but theyve become increasingly sophisticated and widespread, particularly as remote work has become more common. According to the FBIs 2023 Internet Crime Report, employment cost Americans more than $300 million last year alone, a sharp increase from previous years.

These scammers know people are eager for flexible, work-from-home opportunities, said Lisa Plaggemier, executive director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance. Theyre exploiting that desire to steal money and identities.

In one common variation of the scam, victims receive fake checks for office equipment or other job-related expenses. Theyre instructed to deposit the check and then quickly wire funds back to the employer to pay a vendor. Later, the bank flags the check as counterfeit, leaving the victim on the hook for thousands of dollars.

How to protect yourself

The FTC offered several tips for spotting and avoiding job :

• Check the senders email address. Legitimate recruiters typically use official business emails rather than free personal accounts.

• Be cautious of requests for personal information. Employers shouldnt ask for Social Security numbers, bank account details, or scans of ID cards before an official job offer and legitimate onboarding process.

• Research recruiters and companies. Search online for the recruiters name, the company, and keywords like scam or complaint.

• Watch for urgency. Scammers often pressure victims to act quickly, leaving little time to verify details.

• Never pay for a job. Legitimate employers wont ask you to pay upfront fees for training, equipment, or background checks.

For more guidance, consumers can visit the FTCs official resource page at https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-

Take your time and do your homework, the FTC advised. It could save you money, your personal information, and the heartache of a job that never existed.

Small, rural communities face higher risk

By Truman Lewis of ConsumerAffairs

• EWG study shows tackling several tap water contaminants at once offers far greater health benefits than treating pollutants individually.

• Arsenic and chromium-6 frequently occur together and can be reduced using the same technologies.

• Small and rural communities face the highest risks and costs, underscoring a call for updated federal regulations.

A new study suggests that changing how America treats contaminated drinking water could save tens of thousands of lives. Instead of tackling one pollutant at a time, water systems should adopt multi-contaminant treatment strategies that can significantly reduce cancer risks nationwide, according to research published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in the journal Environmental Research.

The peer-reviewed study analyzed more than a decades worth of data from over 17,000 community water systems. EWG scientists found that simultaneously targeting dangerous chemicals like arsenic and hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6, could prevent more than 50,000 lifetime cancer cases in the U.S. Chromium-6 alone has been detected in water supplies serving about 251 million Americans.

Drinking water is contaminated mostly in mixtures, but our regulatory system still acts like they appear one at a time, said Tasha Stoiber, Ph.D., EWG senior scientist and lead author of the study. This research shows that treating multiple contaminants together could prevent tens of thousands of cancer cases.

Higher risk where pollution overlaps

Arsenic and chromium-6 frequently co-occur in drinking water systems and can be removed using similar technologies like reverse osmosis and ion exchange. The study found that reducing arsenic levels by as little as 27% to 42% in systems already dealing with chromium-6 contamination could quadruple the number of cancer cases avoided compared to treating chromium-6 alone.

States like California, Arizona, and Texas face the highest burden from arsenic pollution and would benefit most from a multi-contaminant approach. In California alone, nearly eight out of 10 preventable cancer cases linked to drinking water are due to arsenic exposure.

Health risks from these pollutants are particularly severe for children, pregnant people, and residents in small or rural communities, which often rely on groundwater and lack resources to upgrade outdated water systems.

Outdated regulations and cost challenges

Under current regulations, the federal government evaluates each contaminant in isolation, considering costs and benefits pollutant by pollutant. But EWG researchers argue this approach is outdated and leaves millions vulnerable to cumulative health risks from chemical mixtures in drinking water.

The federal nitrate limit was set decades ago to prevent infant deaths, but we now know cancer and birth complications can occur at much lower levels, said Anne Schechinger, EWGs Midwest director.

Nitrate contamination, particularly common in agricultural regions, poses significant health risks including cancer and birth defects. EWG estimates that cutting nitrate levels by just 20% could prevent 130 cancer cases each year and save $35 million in healthcare costs, especially when combined with treatment for arsenic and chromium-6.

Despite proven technologies capable of removing multiple pollutants at once, small water systems face steep costs and limited technical support, leaving many communities exposed to significant health risks.

This is about more than clean waterits about protecting health and advancing equity, said David Andrews, Ph.D., acting chief science officer at EWG. We have the engineering solutions to fix the broken drinking water system in the U.S., but we need state and federal policies to reflect the reality people face when they turn on the tap.

What consumers can do

While policymakers debate reforms, consumers worried about tap water contaminants can take steps to protect themselves. EWG recommends reverse osmosis filters for removing arsenic, chromium-6, and nitrate, though filters must be replaced on schedule to stay effective.

Consumers can also search EWGs Tap Water Database to learn which contaminants are present in their local water systems.

As concerns grow about drinking water safety across the country, experts say a shift toward multi-contaminant solutions could be key not only to preventing cancer cases but also to promoting health equity and saving millions in healthcare costs.