Reporter Resources: Consumer Sentinel Network
The Consumer Sentinel Network is a secure online database maintained by the Federal Trade Commission. Available to more than 1,700 law enforcement organizations in the United States, Canada, and Australia, Consumer Sentinel makes millions of consumer complaints available to these organizations on their computer desktops.
Based on the premise that sharing information can make law enforcement more effective, the Consumer Sentinel Network allows law enforcement agency members to contribute consumer complaints they receive and access millions of other complaints that are gathered by the FTC; other agencies at the federal, state, and local levels; and various private organizations.
Through Consumer Sentinel, law enforcement agencies can access consumer complaints that are filed with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, various Better Business Bureaus, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, the National Consumers League, the Identity Theft Assistance Center, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre, also known as PhoneBusters.
Free to members, the Consumer Sentinel Network has recently been revamped and expanded. The new search engine allows users to conduct quick searches, search within searches, save searches to their online personal storage space, and filter down to specific complaints. The expanded database now includes complaints filed with the FTC about debt collection, credit issues, and financial matters.
Other types of complaints involve fraud. Examples include identity theft; violations of the FTC’s Do Not Call rule; online auctions and other types of Internet scams; telemarketing scams; advance-fee loans and credit scams; sweepstakes, lotteries, and prizes; business opportunities and work-at-home schemes; and unsubstantiated health and weight-loss products.
Membership in the Consumer Sentinel Network is open to any government law enforcement agency in the United States that completes the registration process, which includes signing a confidentiality and data-security agreement with the FTC. Law enforcement agencies in Canada and Australia also may apply for membership.
The Consumer Sentinel Network allows members to spot emerging and long-term trends in the types of complaints that consumers file. It also provides a tool for U.S., Canadian, and Australian law enforcement agencies to use when combating fraud.
FTC complaint data is integrated into a variety of reports that are available to the public. These reports can be accessed on the Consumer Sentinel’s Web site for the public at
www.ftc.gov/sentinel.
