Markets Wired

The Federal Trade Commission, in collaboration with 74 federal, state and local agencies, consumer groups, and national organizations, celebrates National Consumer Protection Week, beginning Sunday, March 2, and running until Saturday, March 8.

Now in its 16th year, NCPW encourages American consumers to learn about their rights in the marketplace and to recognize and report scams, identity theft, and unfair business practices. Visitors to NCPW.gov can find information about a range of consumer topics, including managing credit and debt, staying safe online, stopping telemarketing calls, and the latest scam alerts.

“As our NCPW partnerships and outreach continue to grow, we encourage consumers to participate in their communities too,” said Jessica Rich, director, FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Consumers can help by checking out our toolkit from the NCPW site, and sharing the materials with family and friends to help people be more informed.”

NCPW partners and hundreds of community groups across the country host events to promote general consumer education or highlight a specific issue, such as a shred-a-thon to reduce the risk of identity theft. 

This new video explains more about NCPW:

Twitter Chat

To highlight NCPW, the FTC will host a Twitter chat to answer consumers’ questions about common scams on Tuesday, March 4 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Follow @FTC, and use the hashtag: #NCPW2014. See FTC Twitter chats to learn more.

The NCPW website has more information for consumers including how to subscribe to updates and the blog, and order free resources.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers 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, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.