AEE: Consumer Issues

The National Fraud Information Center (NFIC) established in 1992 provides direct services to both consumers and law enforcement authorities. By linking industry, consumer organizations, and federal/state authorities, NFIC's goal is to educate consumers about fraud and to help fraud victims by referring them to the appropriate authorities, assisting them in filing complaints, and providing useful information on how to avoid being victimized again. Some of the services of NFIC are listed below.

Provides advice and information consumers can use in evaluating a prospective offer.
Provides requested publications in a timely manner.
Maintains an electronic "watch list" which identifies new types of scams which require immediate alerts to agencies and anti-fraud units.

Refers consumer complaints and "incident reports" to law enforcement and/or regulatory agencies. Complaints and incident reports are entered into an electronic data system in a standard format used by federal and state law enforcement agencies. Entries include product and service codes, transaction codes, and other information used by agencies to process these complaints. Law enforcement agencies have immediate access to this information.

For more information on how the use the National Fraud Information Center
call (800) 876-7060. NFIC counselors are available to take your calls from 9
AM to 5 PM EDT, Monday through Friday. At other times, a recorder will take a
message.

Website: http://www.fraud.org

REFERENCE: NCL Bulletin, May/June 1993

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Please e-mail us with your questions, comments or suggestions at cfb4@psu.edu.
Last Update: September 4, 2009
Financial & Consumer Literacy contacts:
Cathy Bowen cbowen@psu.edu or Marilyn Furry mfurry@psu.edu