Consumer Alerts

Identity theft is hard enough. That’s why we keep working to make recovering from it easier. It’s also why we’re happy to let you know about an innovative project by the FTC and IRS that lets people

April is Financial Literacy Month, and a great time to get your personal finances on track. Here are a few tips to help you get started. Create a budget. The first step toward taking control of your

“Get started selling on Amazon and make $5,000 - $10,000 in the next 30 days… even if you’ve never sold anything online before.” That’s one of the pitches the promoters of a large get-rich scheme used

If you’re on the Do Not Call Registry, companies shouldn’t call you out of the blue to try and sell you something. In fact, it’s usually illegal. The FTC continues to take action against companies and

Persistence pays off. Three years ago, I told you the FTC and New York Attorney General (NY AG) announced complaints against debt collectors that allegedly used a slew of abusive and deceptive tactics

We’ve heard that people are getting official-looking emails about the Western Union settlement. The thing to know is that you cannot apply for a refund by email. The scam emails we’ve seen ask for

The FTC is mailing partial refunds to about 37,000 people who bought unnecessary tech support products and services from Inbound Call Experts, also known as Advanced Tech Support. People are eligible

Ever get a chain letter in the mail or online? Then you know the drill — you send money to a person at the top of the list, then take their name off and add yours to the bottom before sending the

If you’ve been following the news, you’ve probably seen that the iconic Toys"R"Us is winding down its business operations in the U.S., and closing its stores across the country, including stores in

When is the last time you reviewed the passwords to your bank account, e-mail or credit card accounts? Today is a good day to do it. Why? It’s National Password Day. Together with the Better Business

Scams affect people in every community, and the FTC offers information in several languages to help them spot and avoid fraud. For example, we have a new video for people in the Korean community and

Last week, we gave you an overview of the latest Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book. Today, let’s look a bit more closely at the data from military consumers. We got more than 113,000 reports from

A lot of us have student loans – and some of us have trouble paying them every month. Some companies claim to resolve that issue by saying they can help you pay them down quicker, cheaper or get them

New Medicare cards are coming soon. Here’s what you need to know about your new card. Plus, how to avoid related scams. Starting in April 2018, Medicare will begin mailing new cards to everyone who

As the nation’s consumer protection agency, the FTC stands up for consumer rights. Every day, we work to shut down scammers and protect consumers everywhere. But we care just as much about empowering

The numbers are in, the counts have been made, and today the FTC announced what we heard from you during 2017. Here are some highlights: This year’s top fraud is again Imposter Scams, with nearly 350

Online peer-to-peer, or P2P, payment systems let you send money to people quickly. I’ve used them to collect money from the parents on my daughter’s soccer team and to send money to my brothers when

During National Consumer Protection Week 2018, March 4-10, the FTC will co-host four Facebook Live chats (including one in Spanish) with other federal partners. Tune in to find out how to avoid frauds

If your friend or loved one has cancer, you may have searched online for products to help them manage side effects from treatment. Unfortunately, some products you find online don’t live up to the

We’ve recently heard that scammers are recycling an old phishing attempt. In this version, scammers, posing as a well-known tech company, email a phony invoice showing that you’ve recently bought