 The Consumer Sentinel Network team held outreach
and training sessions for nearly 85 law enforcers this year, including a recent FTC Common Ground Conference with
Southwestern state partners. Want to learn how to get the data in Sentinel to
work for you? Email sentinel@ftc.gov to
attend the next online training.
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The
FTC and 32 partners in the U.S. and Canada announced Operation
Ruse Control, a law enforcement sweep of 252 actions including six
new FTC cases, to protect people who buy or lease a car. The charges against the
dishonest car dealers included deceptive car title loans marketing, deceptive add-on
loan servicing fees, odometer fraud, and criminally fraudulent auto loan
applications.
A national
mortgage
servicing company will pay $63 million to resolve federal charges that it
harmed homeowners with illegal loan servicing and debt collection practices. The
FTC and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau allege that Green Tree Servicing
LLC made illegal and abusive debt collection calls to consumers, misrepresented
the amounts people owed, and didn’t honor loan modification agreements between the
consumers and their prior servicers. Under the proposed settlement, Green Tree
will pay $48 million to affected consumers and a $15 million civil penalty.
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Thank you to all who participated in our survey
of Sentinel users. We’re currently reviewing responses and greatly appreciate
the feedback on what you think works best in Sentinel and what needs improvement.
Checking the Associated Company box allows you
to search a company’s affiliated organizations.
Use
Product Service Codes to search for one or more categories of complaints. For
instance, choosing the “Lending: Payday” code will get you those complaints. Quick
tip: Prizes\Sweepstakes\Lotteries are now in one code.
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The
FTC and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office obtained a court order temporarily
stopping a fake
debt collection scam operation charged with illegally threatening and intimidating
consumers. According to the complaint, K.I.P., LLC, Charles Dickey, and
Chantelle Dickey used various business names to pressure payday and short-term
loan applicants into paying debts that they either did not owe or that the
defendants had no authority to collect.
The FTC recently participated in the first Navajo
Consumer Credit Seminar and Roundtable, organized by the Navajo Nation
Human Rights Commission. The program featured discussions about the effects of high-interest
loans, building consumer credit, remedying abusive debt collection practices,
resolving car and mobile home repossessions, and recognizing consumer frauds
and scams. An
estimated 169,000 Navajo citizens live in the Navajo Nation, a 27,000 square
mile territory that covers portions of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
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The
Nevada Department of Business and Industry now shares its complaint data with
CSN. In addition, the Council of Better Business Bureaus will open Mexican BBBs
in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Tijuana that also will share complaints in
Sentinel. Help fellow Consumer Sentinel members boost their law enforcement
capabilities by sharing your consumer complaints with us. Contact sentinel@ftc.gov for details.
Consumer Sentinel
welcomes new members from five states: California (Sonoma County District Attorney,
Investigations Bureau); Florida (Wakulla County Sheriff's Office, CID);
Illinois (Round Lake Beach Police Department, Investigations); Kansas (Nemaha
County Sheriff's Office); and North Dakota, (Grand Forks Police Department,
Criminal Investigations Bureau). It also welcomes the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, Office of Inspector General, Computer Crimes Division. On
the international front, Greece’s General Secretariat for Commerce and Consumer
Affairs and the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority also joined
Consumer Sentinel as eConsumer members.
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Recovering
from identity theft is easier with a plan. If someone has stolen your identity,
or you’ve gotten a notice about a data breach, visit the FTC’s new site at IdentityTheft.gov
for help. IdentityTheft.gov is the federal
government’s one-stop resource to help you report and recover from identity
theft. It’s also available in Spanish at
RobodeIdentidad.gov.
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Share any of FTC’s free resources and tips in your programs, on your website, and with your social networks.
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Order free FTC materials at ftc.gov/bulkorder.
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