Oct. 30, 2003

How to Report a Scam

The Internet offers a global marketplace for consumers and businesses. But crooks also recognize the potentials of cyberspace. The same scams that have been conducted by mail and phone can now be found on the World Wide Web and in email, and new cyberscams are emerging.

The best thing to do in order to fight a scam is to report it to the right people. Here is a list of places on the internet that you can go to in order to report a scam.

The National Consumer Complaint Center is offered to provide a method for consumers to promptly and directly communicate their complaints to United States government agencies that are interested in investigating and taking action for consumers. This is an excellent site for reporting scams on the internet as well as by phone.

The National Fraud Information Center& Internet Fraud Watch. The NFIC was originally established in 1992 by the National Consumers League, the oldest nonprofit consumer organization in the United States, to fight the growing menace of telemarketing fraud by improving prevention and enforcement. The NFIC is the only nationwide toll-free hotline for consumers to get advice about telephone solicitations and report possible telemarketing fraud to law enforcement agencies. In 1996, the Internet Fraud Watch was created, enabling the NFIC to offer consumers advice about promotions in cyberspace and route reports of suspected online and Internet fraud to the appropriate government agencies.