The U.S. Secret Service is warning transnational criminal organizations are targeting shoppers in central Florida.  The Action 9 consumer investigative team rode along with federal agents as they worked with local law enforcement to try to track down hidden credit card skimming devices inside stores across Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties. The skimming devices are designed to steal credit and debit card information when you swipe or insert them into point-of-sale machines at stores and gas pumps.  The criminals also place them inside ATMs.

A central Florida driver is stuck with a $12,000 auto repair bill after a bottle of water spilled in the back seat of his SUV. “I was shocked. I was panicked to be honest with you,” said SUV owner Michael McCormick. His Hyundai SUV is just a couple years old, but the carmaker has refused to cover the repairs under warranty. His insurance company has denied coverage as well.

Canned and bottled coffees are a multi-billion dollar a year industry. They are sold at just about every grocery store and convenience store, but Action 9 found the State of Florida has been getting a bigger slice of money from the drinks than it should have, and consumers have been paying the price. Ready-to-drink coffees are more popular than ever, and they’re supposed to be exempt from sales tax if bought from a grocery store or convenience store. The Action 9 team learned many convenience stores have been charging sales tax anyway and it’s likely been happening for decades.

The Action 9 team poured through thousands of inspections to look at restaurants in central Florida with violations so serious they had to close most often over the last few years.

The Action Nine team analyzed two years of data to identify the top restaurant violation offenders in Central Florida.

Victoria Sjostedt had serious injuries after getting struck by a car in August. “When the impact first happened, my leg kind of exploded,” Sjostedt told Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal. But as she worked to recover, she found herself dealing with a billing nightmare for a wheelchair she claims she turned in months ago. She said, “I don’t know, it’s overwhelming.” When Sjostedt was released from the hospital, she was provided a wheelchair and billed around $50 a month to use it by a company called CareCentrix, but she said after returning it to Orlando Regional Medical Center in December, the bills kept coming.

A Volusia County couple has been trying to get rid of their timeshare since 2017. They got desperate and hired a timeshare cancellation company, but instead of getting help they got burned. “We wound up doing it. To this day I regret it,” Jeff Lamey told Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal. Jeff Lamey and his wife Sandy spent nearly $11,000 with the timeshare exit company and are still stuck with the timeshare.

An Orlando woman turned to Action 9 after she paid more than $2000 for a new fence that was never built, and she couldn’t get her money back. Debbie Hendrickson said, “It’s been going on for several months now through the holidays. I mean, $2,400 is $2,400.” She told Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal she spent months trying to get her money back and even filed a lawsuit in small claims court.

State lawmakers are vowing to take a deep dive into Florida's home insurance crisis. This comes after reports that insurance companies were moving billions of dollars to their own affiliate companies while claiming to lose money. Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez announced it in his opening remarks for the legislative session Tuesday. He said the reports show some insurance companies may have been using creative ways to hide their profits.

A Brevard County man was promised a $4000 refund from a plumbing company but after getting the refund check, it bounced. Sean Mitchner turned to Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal to help get his money back.

An Osceola County homeowner claims she's paying thousands of dollars for a home solar system that doesn't always work. This is not the first time Action 9 has received complaints about the company she hired, Meraki Solar/Meraki Installers.

Police in Scottsdale, Arizona have arrested two people suspected of defrauding central Florida homeowners out of millions of dollars.This was a case Action 9 first exposed in 2022 and it involved a company called Legacy Pools.

You know those annoying surprise junk fees you pay for things like concert tickets and hotel rooms? Well, those should soon be going away. Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal has been following the junk fee issue over the past few years. This week the Federal Trade Commission approved a new final rule banning the surprise junk fees.

Ahead of the holiday season getting fully into swing, doctors are warning parents about the dangers of children swallowing batteries. Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal learned the number of cases of children ingesting batteries is rising. It’s becoming more common for children to swallow what are called button batteries, and if they do, it can be extremely harmful and even deadly.

A federal judge determined Wednesday that a former Full Sail University student is too much of a danger to the community to allow him out of custody.