Markets Wired

The Federal Trade Commission will host a free two-day Fraud Forum on February 25 and 26, 2009, in Washington, DC. The Forum will examine how the FTC can more effectively protect consumers from fraudulent schemes. The first day of the Forum will be open to the public and will provide an opportunity for law enforcement, consumer advocates, business representatives and academics to examine, among other things:

• the extent of fraud in the economy and what survey research indicates about fraud victimization rates;
• the drivers – economic, sociological, and psychological – that create and sustain fraudulent actors; how new fraudulent actors learn the tools of the trade, and how they target victims;
• whether some segments of the population are at greater risk of being targeted by fraudulent actors; whether victim surveys adequately identify the magnitude and types of fraud launched against all segments of the population; what techniques law enforcement has employed to reach these segments of the population; and
• which best practices in private industries, such as banking, telecommunications, and online commerce, are best suited to identify fraud and prevent their services from being used by fraudulent actors; which systems adequately track potentially fraudulent activity and whether opportunities exist to use new or improved self-regulatory efforts to combat fraud.

The second day of the Forum will be open only to domestic and international law enforcement officials, and will focus on improving interagency coordination in the battle against consumer fraud.

The FTC invites interested parties to submit requests to be panelists. Requests should be submitted electronically to fraudforum@ftc.gov by November 14, 2008, and should include a statement detailing any relevant expertise in working on or studying fraud, especially the topics specified above, and complete contact information. Panelists selected to participate will be notified by January 16, 2009.

The FTC also invites those interested to submit written comments to fraudforum@ftc.gov on any of the topics mentioned above.

The event is free and the first day is open to the public. Day two will be open only to law enforcement personnel. The Forum will be held at the FTC’s satellite building conference center, located at 601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC. A government-issued photo ID is required for entry. Pre-registration is not required. Members of the public and press who cannot attend can view a live Webcast of the workshop on the FTC’s Web site.

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. Requests for such accommodations should be submitted via e-mail to Carrie McGlothlin at cmcglothlin@ftc.gov or by calling 202-326-3388. Such requests should include a detailed description of the accommodations needed and a way to contact you if we need more information. Please provide advance notice.

The Federal Trade Commission works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, click https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or call 1-877-382-4357. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,600 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. For free information on a variety of consumer topics, click http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm.