Protecting Consumers Against Fraud and Deception
By: Lance Winslow
One of the main jobs of the FTC Federal Trade Commission is to protect consumers against fraud and deception. One of the ways they go about this is to send out press releases each year into the media over stating the reality of the problem in the market place to scare consumers and thus allow their agency to command a bigger piece of the budget pie each year. In FY 2007 the FTC has reported to Congress in must have an additional 13 million dollars in budget to continue their efforts. In the official report to Congress the Federal Trade Commission stated;
“In FY 2005, the FTC filed 77 actions in federal district court to protect consumers against unfair and deceptive trade practices and obtained 103 judgments ordering more than $824 million in consumer redress, and fifteen judgments ordering payment of more than $6.6 million in civil penalties. These cases attacked a wide range of fraud and deception; including bogus weight loss products advance fee credit card scams, business opportunity schemes, deceptive spam, fraudulent telemarketing, deceptive credit counseling services, deceptive and unfair debt collection practices, and violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.”
It is interesting and intriguing that although this sounds like a lot it is not even a drop in the bucket as the current GDP is well into the trillions of dollars. Each year the FTC harasses and misrepresents itself as potential buyers of goods and services to business owners and wastes their time in order to provide the entrapment needed to make these cases. Why is it that the FTC fraudulently misrepresents itself in order to find deception and misrepresentation? In the report to Congress the FTC additionally purports:
“Working with criminal law enforcers also remains a priority and the FTC’s Criminal Liaison Unit (CLUJ facilitates prosecution of consumer fraud by coordinating with criminal law enforcement authorities. The CLU continued work with the DOJ and the U.S. Attorney s Office in the Southern District of Florida on “Project Biz Opp Flop.” Thus far, 32 people who worked for business opportunity firms have been charged criminally with mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and/or criminal contempt; 14 of these defendants already have entered guilty pleas; nine have been sentenced, with prison terms ranging from 24 to 81 months.”
Whereas “Project Biz Opp Flop” maybe a fun way to enforce deception, it is also quite deceiving to give credence to this program, as 32 people out of millions of business folks is not all that many people, nor is it a very big dent in the problems. We need to further scrutinize the FTC’s efforts and cut their budget by half, as they seem to be quite incompetent. This article of course is my opinion, so consider this in 2006.
Lance Winslow