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Watch a PSA |
- Automatic Debit Scams – Cautions consumers not to give out checking account information, or any other personal information, over the phone unless they're familiar with the company and agree to pay for something.
- Bogus July 1 Email Exposed: The Real Deal on Your Credit File Privacy – An anonymous email containing false and misleading information about the use of your personal information has shown up in email in-boxes across the country for the last several years, leaving many consumers concerned and confused. Here's the real deal from the Federal Trade Commission.
- Consumer Protection
- Buying, Giving, and Using Gift Cards – Gift cards can be the perfect gift but there are some things you need to know before buying one.
- Consumer Advisory on Avoiding Cashier's Check Fraud – Provides information to consumers on avoiding scams involving fraudulent cashier's checks.
- Frauds & Scams: Protect Yourself and Your Money – Describes some typical financial frauds and scams and suggests how to protect yourself and your money.
- Go Direct – GoDirect offers a safe way for consumers to receive Social Security and other federal benefit payments.
- Identity Theft – Identity theft is a federal crime. It occurs when one person's identification (which can include name, social security number, or any account number) is used or transferred by another person for unlawful activities. This booklet is designed to help you understand what identity theft is, how it happens, how to protect yourself, and what steps to take if your identity is stolen.
- Plastic Fraud: Getting a Handle on Debit and Credit Cards – This pamphlet describes credit and debit cards and some common schemes involving card fraud with tips to help you avoid them.
- Publications – Consumer Protection publications available from the Federal Reserve
- Fake Credit Reports: Cashing in on Your Personal Information – Learn how to protect yourself from a high-tech scam known as "phishing." Some Web sites or unsolicited emails offering credit reports may be using bogus sites as a way to capture your personal information and sell it to others who may use it to commit fraud, including identity theft.
- Federal and Postal Job Scams: Tip-offs to Rip-offs – Rule number one: You never have to pay for information about job vacancies or employment opportunities with the U.S. government and U.S. Postal Service. Information about federal employment is available online at www.usajobs.opm.gov.
- FTC's Federal and Postal Job Scams Web Site
- FTC Issues Annual List of Top Consumer Complaints in 2007
- Help Wanted...Finding a Job – Describes six types of employment service firms. Urges consumers to find out what services a firm offers, how much the services cost, and who pays. Discusses consumer scams and how to avoid becoming a victim.
- How to File a Complaint Against a Financial Institution – If your financial institution is regulated by:
- How to identify and protect yourself from on-line investment fraud – Help protect yourself and your family by avoiding fraud.
- How to Protect Kids Privacy Online – Explains what parents should do, and what website operators must do as a result of the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, to protect kids' information online.
- How to Report Social Security Fraud
- Identity Theft and Your Social Security Number
- File Segregation: New ID Is a Bad IDea – You're promised a chance to hide unfavorable credit information by establishing a new credit identity. The problem: "File segregation" is illegal. If you use it, you could face fines or even a prison sentence.
- Medical Billing Opportunities: Worth a Second Opinion – Medical billing opportunity promoters often misrepresent earnings potential and don't provde key, pre-investment information required by law.
- Onguard Online – OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
- Pretexting: Your Personal Information Revealed – Explains how scam artists can get your personal information under false pretenses, and sell it to people who may use it to get credit in your name, steal your assets, or to investigate or sue you.
- Privacy Choices for Your Personal Financial Information – Explains that federal law gives you the right to stop (opt out of) some sharing of your personal financial information, that you will receive privacy notices from financial institutions you do business with, and what to do when you receive the notices.
- Privacy: Tips for Protecting Your Personal Information – Tips to help you manage your personal information wisely, and to help minimize its misuse.
- Privacy Initiatives Homepage – The Federal Trade Commission is educating consumers and businesses about the importance of personal information privacy, including the security of personal information.
- Secured Credit Card Marketing Scams – A secured card requires you to open and maintain a savings account as security for your line of credit; an unsecured card does not. Describes common advertising and marketing scams for secured credit cards.
- The FTC’s ID Theft Web Site – Information for consumers, business, the media, and law enforcement.
- The FTC’s Kidz Privacy Web Site
- Tips to Safely Conduct Financial Transactions Over the Internet – Provides guidance from NCUA for consumer protection from on-line financial fraud.
- You Can Simplify Your Financial Life – How to save time, reduce stress and eliminate clutter... and maybe even save more money
- Don't Be an On-line Victim: How to Guard Against Internet Thieves and Electronic Scams – Multi-media education tool to help you learn how to protection yourself and your computer against Identity Thieves.
- Federal Trade Commission - ID Theft Homepage
- ID Theft and Your Social Security Number
- When a Criminal's Cover Is Your Identity
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