 The Spam Database is now easier to use. The Sentinel team
has improved the Search, Help, Search Results, and Advanced
Search functions. It’s easier to
identify spam received directly from a consumer as opposed to spam forwarded by
an Internet Service Provider. In Search Results, users can: 1) automatically
generate images for the first 10 spam records (by clicking View Images for Selected Records); 2) preview the Search Results page (by clicking Reference Number); and 3) preview the
first 100 records (using the Bulk PDF
Download link to the UCE Search
Results page). Finally, in Advanced
Search, the team has added a Search
Across All Fields section, similar to the quick search function at the top
of the Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) homepage.
Coming soon: improved functions for the FTC Complaint Assistant and
econsumer.gov, which gathers cross-border complaints.
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FTC
settlements have banned two operations from selling business directory listings because they allegedly cheated small businesses and
nonprofits by charging them for online listings they had not ordered and did
not receive. In June 2014, the FTC and the State of Florida filed a complaint
against Francois Egberongbe, Robert N. Durham, Sr., and their organization; a federal court stopped the scheme and froze their
assets pending litigation. The settlement requires the fraudsters to pay $1.7
million to reimburse small business owners and others who lost money to the
scam. In the second case, the FTC charged Your Yellow Book Inc. and its principals
with defrauding small businesses, doctors’ offices, retirement homes, and
religious schools. Many paid nearly $500 each, believing their organization had
agreed to be listed in the directory. The order imposes a judgment of more than
$715,000, the surrender of certain bank accounts, and proceeds from the sale of
a vehicle, boat, and camper.
Ever
wonder how many phone numbers are registered on the National Do Not Call
Registry and how many there are per state? Find out those tidbits and other
helpful facts in the sixth annual National Do Not Call
Registry Data Book. The Data Book for Fiscal Year 2014, issued in
November, has information about the Registry from October 1, 2013 to September
30, 2014. Look up the number of consumer complaints since
the Registry began in
2003, the type and amount of complaints by month in FY 2014, or how many
organizations accessed the Registry. The Data Book also has an
appendix on registration and complaint figures by state and area code.
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- The National
Do Not Call Registry has more than 217,800,000 active registrations, up from
213,400,000 a year ago.
- The
number of consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls decreased from
more than 3,700,000 (FY13) to about 3,200,000 (FY14).
– National Do
Not Call Registry Data Book FY 2014
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There
is a temporary moratorium on entering new data from our third-party data
contributors into Consumer Sentinel during preparation of the 2014 CSN Data
Book. We will resume data entry in mid-February,
beginning with any complaints received during the moratorium.
The
Consumer Sentinel Network team has held outreach and training sessions for
nearly 60 law enforcers from U.S. consumer protection agencies since December. 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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A
U.S. District Court has found Dish Network liable for tens of millions of calls
that violated federal law. The
opinion, which was issued on December 12, represents a partial
summary judgment win in the case
the Department of Justice filed on behalf of the FTC
against Dish in March 2009. The FTC’s complaint alleges that Dish made – or
caused a telemarketer to make – outbound calls to numbers on the DNC Registry.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the complaint at the FTC’s request in
March 2009 and is jointly trying the case with four state co-plaintiffs –
California, Illinois, Ohio, and North Carolina. The states allege that Dish
violated the law by calling numbers on the Do Not Call Registry and by making
telemarketing robocalls. The court has scheduled the trial to begin in July to
resolve several remaining issues.
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Do
you work with Spanish-speaking communities? You’ll want to order
our free graphic novels, or fotonovelas. Available online and in
print, they’re flying off the shelves – we’ve distributed more than 151,000
copies of the first two: Impostores del Gobierno (Government Imposters) and
Estafa
de Ingresos (Income Scams). The latest, Cobradores
de Deuda (Debt Collectors), focuses on what debt collectors can
(and can’t) do when collecting a debt. View all three at ftc.gov/fotonovela
or order print copies at FTC.gov/bulkorder.
The
Massachusetts Attorney General is now the 20th state to share
complaint data with CSN. Does your office gather consumer complaint data? You
can help fellow Consumer Sentinel members boost their law enforcement
capabilities by sharing those complaints with us. Contact sentinel@ftc.gov
for details.
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Sentinel welcomes new members from three states: California (Chino Police
Department, Detective Bureau), New York (State Office of the Attorney General,
Charities Bureau), and Texas
(Department of Public Safety, Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division).
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Share any of FTC’s free resources and tips in your programs, on your website, and with your social networks.
Order free FTC materials at ftc.gov/bulkorder.
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