National Consumer Protection week offers tips to avoid and recover from scams

A keyboard includes the word Scam with a question mark. — The Federal Trade Commission is launching the annual <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUZpNkmleYDifLuygVuPfGRvvQWH9AC-2BZQy9dr2RuJQRQSVrZSLTyKdaB9ptCOr0JHAIKdHmWXOh4hlnVXNBETdyZCXyaml5JmfDmm5WYqB9uZd72_21x-2F89NLn-2BN7aizQAh3aVfuM8LadbcNc7-2BUBddujEOCnoqKvwRcyzqjtgxFKI6FPPjCNVzA3o8CVJ9azOAmlZpbD3zSDMzy-2FYraK6hjUXtUbMs8aAblkfN-2BTzTQyiReKzOrSzjbCXpYdDzlyv3i-2FGzgbl8PKEBi-2BLx9lPA9S8pl4Gkhz3qQIvkRaXeffFC2sPZSuXTMjz6x4vQO-2B2EvWU5vojSEQdlB1yReYUPaXBvZ4CupkW5Dmx8HatdesLkRQlcEHV2qOELCk4SF5rnP2cNLs5KOTkmiazi7niZr1FXnDlIeXbkT9bVLTPes-2FPIGWQFzfSBgchNYM4IDXXFmBonwwFkDxw6P30S7K31t-2Fz1oEPEnc8sn9Jd-2BoLB096Zao"><u>National Consumer Protection Week</u></a> Sunday, March 6, with information on how Americans can avoid scams, identity theft, and other consumer protection issues. <br/><br/><br/>

By Dispatch staff report

March 04, 2022 at 12:06 PM

The Federal Trade Commission will launch the annual National Consumer Protection Week Sunday, March 6.

Joined by other federal, state, and local agencies, consumer and national advocacy organizations, the FTC will spend March 6-12 sharing information with Americans on how they can avoid scams, identity theft, and other consumer protection issues.

To support these efforts, the FTC and its partners have organized a series of programming ranging from webinars to Twitter chats and livestreams. Topics of interest include college students and cryptocurrency scams, financial caregiving, and how to recover from fraud. A preview of the week’s events can be found below:

Tuesday, March 8

2 p.m.: Join the FTC and the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs for a webinar on how to protect yourself from scams and where to report them at https://bit.ly/3CeiDb7 .
10 a.m.: Join the FTC, AARP Georgia, Better Business Bureau, and the Georgia Department of Law for a webinar about how to avoid common scams including impersonator, gift card, romance, and pet scams. Look for the link here at bit.ly/3txUSXE

Wednesday

Noon: Join the FTC and the National Student Employment Association for a webinar about college students and cryptocurrency scams . You’ll learn the basics of cryptocurrency and common scams — and how they’re affecting college students — bit.ly/3HIdJEo .

Thursday

Join National Consumer Protection Week Twitter chats on avoiding Coronavirus and impersonator scams.
- noon: Join the Twitter chat in Spanish with @laFTC , @USAGovEspanol and @SeguroSocial . Follow the conversation by using hashtags #OjoConLasEstafas and #NCPW2022.
- 2 p.m.: Join the Twitter chat in English with @FTC , @USAGov , and @SocialSecurity . Follow the conversation by using hashtags #SlamTheScamChat and #NCPW2022.
Noon: Join the FTC, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Diverse Elders Coalition for a webinar about financial caregiving — bit.ly/3vDESGg . Participants will learn about free resources to help caregivers and older adults plan for financial caregiving. We’ll also share information about how to spot, avoid, and report scams.
1 p.m.: Join the FTC, SAGE, and AARP’s Fraud Watch Network for a webinar about how to recover from fraud , /bit.ly/3CcrMRw . This interactive discussion will highlight possible ways to recover money lost to scammers, as well as how to cope with the emotional impact of scams and fraud.
6 p.m.: Join a Facebook Live bit.ly/3MnGF8p with the FTC and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General. Participants will learn how to spot and avoid government impersonator scams.

Friday

10 a.m.: Join the FTC and the Texas Senior Medicare Patrol for a webinar about fighting fraud at bit.ly/3vD7cbI ..

For more information, and to get involved, check out ftc.gov/NCPW .

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition , stop deceptive and unfair business practices and scams , and educate consumers . Report fraud, scams, or bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov . Get consumer advice at consumer.ftc.gov .

By Dispatch staff report

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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National Consumer Protection week offers tips to avoid and recover from scams

The FTC will spend March 6-12 sharing information with Americans on how they can avoid scams, identity theft, and other consumer protection issues. People can participate through events on Facebook, Twitter and by attending webinars throughout the week.