An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.
The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.
Consumer Alerts
Learn more about the latest consumer advice and scams — and what you can do to protect yourself.
When you want to know what’s happening in housing, you go to the experts. That’s why the FTC joined renters, renters’ advocates, and researchers in Atlanta to hear about issues affecting renters. They
Wondering if you need an international license to drive in a country you’re visiting? Every country has its own rules for visitors who want to drive. In some, like Canada, your U.S. driver’s license
If you meet someone on social media or a dating website or app, how can you tell if their profile is real? They say they’re in the military — but scammers especially like to pose as military
Here’s a new scam spotted on social media: appointment setting jobs. They claim you can work from home and make big money. But just what does an appointment setter do? And how can you tell the
Maybe you want to try out a product for a little while before you make a long-term decision. So, you sign up for a monthly subscription plan. Everything is fine until you want to cancel and it turns
Scammers pretending to be from the government tell convincing stories to steal your money or personal information. But now they’re taking a new, layered approach — and here are some clues to spot it.
No one thinks their online love interest is going to scam them, but scammers are good at what they do. They establish an emotional connection with you so you’re more likely to believe that they’re an
Scammers spend their days pretending to be someone they aren’t, like government agents or medical staff, to con us out of information and money. That’s why we join our friends at the Senior Medicare
A text message from an unknown number that simply says: hi, how are you? seems harmless. Your first instinct might be to respond to see if it’s someone you know. Or maybe tell them they made a mistake
With SNAP benefits, you use an EBT card to buy food at the store. But we’re hearing about scammers using illegal skimmers to steal card information, then grabbing your benefits for themselves. Here’s
Weather forecasters are predicting an active hurricane season, but if you live in large parts of the country — including those hit by tornadoes over Memorial Day Weekend — you’ve probably noticed more
Say you’re scrolling through your social media feed and you see a post saying, “I’m the winner of $600 million from the Powerball lottery. I’m giving away $50,000 to the first one thousand people to
Social media can connect us to friends and family across the country — but it can also connect us to scammers. Impersonators on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are pretending to sell exotic animals to
Social media feeds are flooded with ads offering steep discounts on brand-name products, including luxury items. But are these offers real or a scam? When a low-priced “deal” pops into your socials
The phone rings. Your caller ID says it’s the Social Security Administration. You hesitate. You’re not expecting a call from them, and you’ve heard about impersonation scams. But something inside you
When you go through a toll, you know you’ll need to pay a fee to use that road or bridge. But scammers are targeting drivers with text messages pretending to be from the tolling agency collecting
Another day, another round of spam texts and emails trying to sell you things. At best, spam is annoying. At worst, it’s pushing scams or trying to install malware on your device. If you’re tired of
At some point, most of us will rely on financing to buy the things we need or want. But what happens when financing terms aren’t clear? Or you’re told to expect a monthly payment amount, but end up
This month, we join the nation to celebrate Older Americans Month. It’s also the 10th anniversary of Pass It On, the FTC’s fraud education campaign for older adults. As Older Americans Month