Fraud alert or credit freeze – which is right for you?

September 15, 2017

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

Considering a fraud alert or credit freeze? In the aftermath of the Equifax data breach, many people are. You don’t need to be an identity theft victim to use them – but it’s helpful to consider your situation. If you’re not sure which is best for you, here are some things to think about. What do...

Equifax isn’t calling

September 14, 2017

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

Ring, ring. "This is Equifax calling to verify your account information." Stop. Don’t tell them anything. They’re not from Equifax. It’s a scam. Equifax will not call you out of the blue. Equifax’s recent data breach. Other calls might try to trick you into giving your personal information. Here...

Make your hurricane donations count

September 12, 2017

Colleen Tressler, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are wreaking devastation from Texas to Florida to Puerto Rico, and beyond. Generous people across the country are doing what they can to help their neighbors in need. If you’re thinking about donating money to a charity, here’s how to make sure your dollars go to the...

Questions about military retirement?

September 12, 2017

Alesha Hernandez , Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Retirement is a big transition in a servicemembers’ life. It will affect you, your family and your finances. Military Consumer and @StopFraudCo will host a Twitter chat to talk about what retirement means for military families on September 14, 2017 at 1 p.m. M.T. / 3 p.m. E.T. We’ll talk about...

The Equifax Data Breach: What to Do

September 08, 2017

Seena Gressin, Attorney, Division of Consumer & Business Education, FTC

If you have a credit report , there’s a good chance that you’re one of the 143 million American consumers whose sensitive personal information was exposed in a data breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies. Here are the facts, according to Equifax. The breach...

Helping wounded warriors

September 05, 2017

Carol Kando-Pineda, Counsel, FTC's Division of Consumer & Business Education

David Winfrey was one of the excellent panelists at our recent military financial workshop in San Antonio. David is a financial counselor at Fort Sam Houston. He has a passion to help wounded warriors with the challenges they face. David says his clients were “sailing along and then there was a...

Rental cars: Life in the toll lane

August 31, 2017

Colleen Tressler, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

If you’re planning a business trip or vacation, you may have to make a decision about how to pay tolls when you rent a car. Most rental car companies offer ways to pay tolls automatically, but that convenience comes at a cost. Here’s how the devices work. In many parts of the country, your rental...

Hurricane Harvey scams: Callers lie about flood insurance

August 30, 2017

Colleen Tressler, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

One thing we’ve learned at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is that scams often follow the news – especially when there’s a natural disaster, like Hurricane Harvey, in the headlines. Case in point: Colleagues at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) tell us homeowners and renters are...

TaxSlayer: File this one under authentication

August 29, 2017

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

Have you ever filed your taxes using an online tax prep account? If so, you’ll want to know about the FTC’s recent settlement with TaxSlayer, LLC. What happened? From October until December 2015, hackers used user names and passwords stolen from other websites to try to log in to TaxSlayer Online...

Phantom debt collectors impersonate law firms

August 29, 2017

Colleen Tressler, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Getting a call from a debt collector can be stressful. But it can be downright frightening when the caller uses lies, profanity and threats to try to get you to pay. In a case announced today , the FTC says a debt collection operation in Charlotte, NC pretended to be lawyers. Really, they were not...

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