Military Families: 3 Steps to a Safer Celebration

June 28, 2018

Ann Marie Buerkle, Acting Chairman, Consumer Product Safety Commission

The Fourth of July is an important day for all Americans, and can have even more significance to those who have served in the armed services. Perhaps you’re getting together with family and friends, picking up miniature American flags for the backyard, and deciding on your favorite barbecue treats...

Military Consumer Month 2018: Fight Imposter Scams

June 19, 2018

Andrew Smith , Director, FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection

J uly is Military Consumer Month. This year, we’re focusing on fighting imposter scams – where a con artist pretends to be someone you trust, to convince you to send money or personal information. The scam can take many forms: imposters may say they’re calling from the government or from a business...

Free credit freezes are coming soon

June 07, 2018

Lisa Weintraub Schifferle, Attorney, FTC, Division of Consumer & Business Education

Looking for stronger ways to protect your credit? Thanks to a new federal law, soon you can get free credit freezes and year-long fraud alerts. Here’s what to look forward to when the law takes effect on September 21st: Free credit freezes What is it? A credit freeze restricts access to your credit...

Scammers target Sept. 11th Victim Compensation Fund

April 23, 2018

Drew Johnson, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Consumers are reporting a new imposter scam — this time the callers are pretending to be with the September 11 th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) . According to reports, the callers are telling people they may be entitled to money, and they are asking people for their personal information to...

FTC’s Data Book and military consumers

March 09, 2018

Monica Vaca, Associate Director, Division of Consumer Response and Operations

Last year we heard from nearly 2.7 million people about scams and other consumer problems they encountered. We’ve tallied the numbers and last week the FTC announced the 2017 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book . We got more than 113,000 reports from military consumers. Although not all of them...

Military Saves Week: Set a goal. Make a plan. Save automatically.

February 26, 2018

By Alecia Blair, Military Saves Communications Strategist & Outreach Manager, AFC®Candidate, FINRA Foundation Fellow

This is Military Saves Week ! It’s an annual opportunity for servicemembers and their families to learn about successful savings practices and to assess progress towards their savings goals. The Week’s theme is: Set a goal. Make a plan. Save automatically . It may sound easy enough, but doing these...

Getting your money back from Western Union

November 14, 2017

Karen Dodge, Staff Attorney, Midwest Region, FTC

Did you lose money to a scammer who had you pay using Western Union between January 1, 2004 and January 19, 2017? If so, you can now ask for your money back – and you have until February 12, 2018 to file your claim. Earlier this year, we told you about the FTC’s settlement with Western Union ,...

Honoring our veterans

November 08, 2017

Carol Kando-Pineda, Attorney, Consumer & Business Education, FTC

November 11 is Veterans Day. The origins of this annual commemoration reach back nearly 100 years to “Armistice Day,” which marked the end of World War I. Now we call it Veterans Day to honor all who have served. It’s a time to thank veterans for their contributions to our nation. There are roughly...

Call from 877-382-4357? Hang up.

October 24, 2017

Andrew Johnson, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Scammers are using fake caller ID information to trick you into thinking they’re someone who can be trusted. The practice is called caller ID spoofing, and scammers can fake anyone’s phone number. Today, we got reports that scammers are spoofing the FTC’s Consumer Response Center’s phone number (...

Got student loan debt? Don’t be scammed.

October 13, 2017

Ari Lazarus, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

If you’ve got student loan debt, you’ve probably seen ads or been contacted by companies promising they can help. Some are scams – and the FTC is going after them. Today the FTC announced Operation Game of Loans , a joint FTC and state law enforcement sweep against student loan debt relief scammers...

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