Maybe you've picked up the phone recently to hear the following recording or something like it:

"Are you more than $10,000 in debt? We can help! Press #1 now to get connected with one of our agents and they can help cut you're debt in half for only a quarter of the cost."

Well, unfortunately a lot of these debt reduction agencies are nowhere near who they claim to be and most end up costing you money instead of waiving your debts. This is why The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has issued a consumer warning against those telemarketing calls and advertisements claiming to come from debt reduction agencies or anyone who claims to provide "debt reduction," "debt relief," "debt settlement" or "debt renegotiation."

"Unfortunately, people do not always see the benefits that debt reduction companies lead them to expect-and some people wind up even deeper in debt than they were before," says FCAC Commissioner Ursula Menke. "If an offer to reduce your debts seems too good to be true, it probably is."

The usual setup promises that the company can work out a deal with your creditors so that you're able to pay back only a small percentage of what you actually owe for "pennies on the dollar." It's quite the offer, but it may actually turn into a Faustian bargain.

Related Links:

• Debt Settlement or Credit Counseling?
• What is Debt Settlement?
• It's Never Too Late to Get On Top of Your Debt
• Debt Reduction: Five Steps to Freedom

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Are you a highly successful middle aged man? You too can date sexy college co-eds at the University of Toronto, as long as you've a steady stream of cash.

The global economic climate combined with massive student loan debt have forced some girls on the UofT campus to find a creative solution when it comes to making money. It seems a lot of them turn to Seeking Arrangement -- a website that matches perspective sugar babies with the sugar daddies willing to pay them for their time (However it happens to be filled).

According to statistics recently released by the site, UofT has the second highest number of college girls, with 471 users taking advantage of the site's matchmaking capabilities. The number is second only to New York University with 498 users. In general, women out number men on the site five to one and while most of the girls leave their fee negotiable, the average seems to be between $1,000 and $5,000 per month for those that do list it on their profiles. Inevitably, there are some women who over value themselves, posting requested amounts between $10,000 and $20,000 per month without the Perfect 10 looks to back it up.

Related Links:

• Risque Business: Ads that Use Sex to Sell
• More Sex, More Income?
• In Dating, When Should You Reveal You Have a Large Debt?

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The moment is always awkward. You scramble to unwrap the biggest gift under the tree as fast and as happily as possible -- certain you know it's exactly what you asked for -- only to have sinking disappointment overcome you, as you realize that all your subtle signals were somehow lost in translation and it's not what you wanted at all.

Once you fain pure joy, say thank you and the offending party has gone home, then what do you do? Where do all the unwanted Christmas gifts go? After all, a UK survey from Gumtree revealed that unwanted Christmas gifts totaled £2.4 billion this year and that's just in one country.

No surprise that mothers give the most unwanted gifts according to one of every five people who answered the survey. Mom's horrible taste and clouded judgement was closely followed by mother-in-laws at 18% and aunts at 16%. But, what do you do with them all -- seriously?

Related Links:

• How to Save on Christmas? Celebrate a Few Days Later
• Five Tips to Buy Last Minute Gifts Without Losing Your Mind (or Wallet)
• Five Tips for Finding Online Holiday Deals

All us deal hunters and freebie hounds have heard the stories: There are people out there who can walk into a grocery store and walk out with hundreds of dollars worth of food using nothing but coupons and their own penchant for organization. The rest of us are left to wallow in resentment, since we know deep down we don't have the discipline for those rewards. Then that resentment is followed by a certain brand of consummerist backlash. "These people are going too far. Do they really need two hundred deoderants?"

Shows like TLC's Extreme Couponing seem to do nothing but fan those flames among us average shoppers. Yet, when you see stay at home mom Joanie Demer of McKinleyville, CA buy $638.64 worth of groceries for $2.64, there's a skeptiscm that doesn't really believe that this 98% savings is possible. Still, we all want a piece of that don't we? We all would be extreme couponers if it didn't take such dedication.

Still, is it really possible to pull it off? The show only answers that question in the affirmative for the American audience, but you hardly ever hear of extreme couponers hauling wheelbarrels full of product out of a Safeway or a Loblaws. Walletpop wanted to find out why that was and what we discovered is that there are still tricks to saving with coupons in this country, but not to a degree that's going to allow the neighbours to shop out of your garage.

Redemption Inc. is a CBC reality show that sees ten ex-cons vie for an opportunity that has been "Kevin sent" -- as in, Kevin O'Leary.

The chairman of O'Leary Funds, best known as the most acerbic venture capitalist on Dragon's Den and Shark Tank will be showing his softer side in 2012 by investing $100,000 of his own money into the business of a reformed criminal, giving them a second chance at a productive and fulfilling life, when no one else will employ them.

If you ask him though, he's the same money loving free-market philosopher he's always been. He's simply responding to an entrepreneurial spirit that has always been there among these people and redirecting it to the right side of the law.

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When it comes to giving to charity, so much of it comes down to raising awareness through various fundraising initiatives, but what if regular people could give like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Brad Pitt do?

Enter Chimp -- an online bank account that makes giving to charity so easy a monkey could do it.

The Vancouver-based fund is inspired by the strategic and structured giving practices employed by private foundations, such as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with the goal of making donating much easier for the average Joe.

Founded by John Bromley, the vice-president of the Vancouver-based Benific Group, a firm providing legal and operational advice to Canadian charities, Chimp allows anyone to donate any amount to any Canadian charity as often as they want, or give their funds to a friend so they can donate. Then, at the end of the year, all your donations are organized for you on a single tax-receipt.

Related Links:

• Be More Charitable Without Depleting the Bank Account
• Create Your Own Fundraising Website for Weddings, Birthdays and Sporting Events
• Open Your Heart and Eyes When You Donate

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Every year The Give Back Fund, a philanthropic management and consulting firm for the entertainment and sports industries, releases it's Give Back 30 – the 30 entertainment professionals and athletes who donated the most to charity during the year, according to public records.

We have the complete and exclusive list below. Find out who topped the list of supreme givers this year. To view the gallery, click here or on the picture below:

The irony of finding out what Facebook is hiding from me through Facebook is not lost on me.

It happened yesterday when a Facebook friend posted this article from Slate and I discovered that there were over 100 messages in my Facebook inbox that I had never even seen until right that moment.

Granted, the experience wasn't as harrowing as the one recounted in the article where the author only found out that a man had found her lost laptop a month after she already bought a new one and seemingly moved on, but I still missed a message from a source who was trying to confirm and interview we had scheduled.

I also probably came across as an antisocial prick after failing to respond to a beautiful woman who recounted, "How wonderful it was to meet me" at a party the night before. It was sent back in September. It can be worse, some people reported missing job opportunities sent to them by recruiters and a friend of mine missed at least two summer BBQ invitations that were sent out in July.

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RELATED LINKS:

• When Facebook Hits the Market
• Facebook Deals Galore
• How Facebook and Twitter Can Ruin Your Credit Rating, Job Prospects and More

The tabloids will never get tired of writing about celebrity meltdowns and for good reason - we never seem to get tired of hearing about them.

But if you can look past the obvious juicy tidbits of affairs, drug charges and other sordid details, there are lessons to be learned. And some of the best ways to learn what not to do are to study those who have already done them.

To find out what insightful lessons Lindsay Lohan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Kim Kardashian taught us in 2011, click on this link to get to view the gallery, or click on the picture below.

Swipebids.com promised almost unheard of discounts on iPods, TVs, kitchen appliances, computers and gift cards, but all it ended up doing was swiping bidders' money.

They were an Alberta-based penny auction site investigated and subsequently shutdown by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission amid evidence of fraud. Like other penny auction destinations, Swipe Bids invited customers to buy bids in multiples of ten or more for between $0.50 and a $1.00 each. Those bids are typically used to try and win the auction item and each one brings the item's price up by a penny. On legitimate penny auction sites, like Quibids.com, any unused bids are banked on your account until you use them for the next auction.

Related Links:

• Banned: Stuff You Can't Sell on Ebay
• Senate Suggests Nixing the Penny
• Could This Be the End of Our Penny?

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