 Despite
the languor of July, the Sentinel Team is anything but languid as we continue
to work on the first major overhaul of the Consumer Sentinel Network in a decade. In June, the FTC released Sentinel 3.0, with
key upgrades such as new analytical and visualization tools, phrase cloud and
phrase trending, and search results that will personalize user experiences.
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One
of the most exciting new tools is the Sentinel Spotlight. It enables you to view summary data and see
the latest trends, quickly identify possible targets and areas needing focus,
and gather complaint records quickly and efficiently. If you have not yet explored this feature, try
it out. You’ll see it on the home page
when you log on. You will like the
interactive nature of the tool, which lets you click onto graphs to get more
information and drill down to specific items of interest.
We
also unveiled a great new tool for investigators looking to make connections
between entities and individuals: Graph Analytics. With this tool, you can explore and visualize
new and important relationships between key data points for fraud and Do Not
Call complaints. These relationships may
include aliases or DBAs (Doing Business As) of companies and their
representatives, including names, phone numbers, and company representative
names. Try it out by clicking “explore
complaint relationships” in your search results page.
Have
the new features provided you with a law enforcement success story? We’d love to hear about it at sentinel@ftc.gov.
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The
Sentinel Team conducted 11 outreach and training sessions for the 3.0 overhaul,
reaching nearly 200 users. International
outreach with the Alberta Partnership Against Cross-Border Fraud included various
Canadian law enforcement entities, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
and Canada Post. It also plans a training session at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Academy in early August. You can find future
training session notices by logging onto Sentinel. Need quicker help? There is a short online video when you log in, as well as various tipsheets in
the Help section. Check out the tipsheets
on Search, Download, Spotlights, and Graph Analytics.
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Nearly a decade of tenacious litigation by the U.S.
Department of Justice, the FTC, and the Attorneys General of California,
Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio against satellite TV provider Dish Network
has resulted in a record-setting
court judgment. An
Illinois federal court ordered Dish Network to pay $280 million in civil
penalties and to stop alleged violations of the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule
and other federal and state laws. The U.S.
Department of Justice filed charges on behalf of the FTC and four states
against the satellite television provider. Dish allegedly made millions of illegal calls
— including to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry — and used
unscrupulous tactics to generate programming sales. The court also ordered Dish to ensure its
marketing practices comply with the law.
The civil penalties include a record-setting $168 million to the federal
government, with the remainder going to the states.
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July
is the month of the military consumer. Certain
scams target or disproportionately affect the military community, in part
because military families may relocate frequently and many servicemembers are now,
for the first time, living on their own and earning a paycheck. Consumer fraud against servicemembers can
undermine military readiness and troop morale.
Sentinel
is a useful military consumer protection tool to identify and stop such
scams. Sentinel received over 100,000
military consumer complaints last year. You
can search for them specifically by conducting an Advanced Search, scrolling
down to the consumer section, and selecting “Show All Fields.” You can also search by military branch,
status, station, and pay grade. With the
new Sentinel Spotlight, you’ll be able to drill down and see specific types of
fraud for affected military members.
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 The FTC hosted a workshop in San Antonio, Texas, on July 19, 2017, to examine
financial issues and scams that can affect military consumers, including veterans
and active duty servicemembers in all branches.
The workshop also discussed FTC resources available to military consumer
advocates and representatives on financial readiness and fraud prevention,
including the FTC’s Military
Consumer Toolkit, available at
Military.Consumer.gov. The toolkit enables
personal financial managers, counselors, and others in the military community
to share practical financial readiness tips and can be individually customized
and easily shared on social media.
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Today,
many automobiles have innovative connected and automated features. These vehicles are expected to generate an enormous amount of data, some
of which is personal and sensitive, such as real time precise geolocation
data. Examining the potential benefits and challenges posed by
such data collection was the subject of a recent FTC workshop.
The Federal Trade Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration held the workshop on June 28, 2017 in Washington, D.C. The event brought together a variety of
stakeholders, including industry representatives, consumer advocates, academics,
and government officials to discuss privacy and security issues related to
connected and automated vehicles. The
workshop featured panel discussions on the types of data connected cars
generate, collect and share; cybersecurity challenges; the privacy implications
of connected cars; and potential role of government agencies. The agenda and various panel discussions are
available on the workshop page.
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