Consumer Agencies
Common Scams
PERIOD 1
Food and Drug Administration
 The FDA helps consumers by making sure that food,
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drugs, and cosmetics are safe for us to buy.
The FDA gets $ 1 trillion worth of products a year
and their job to make sure its safe.
It ensures the safety of all food except for meat,
poultry and egg products
Ensures the safety and effectiveness of all drugs
And makes sure that cosmetics and medical and
consumer products that emit radiation do no harm.
Administration
By: Meghan Maglente
 Prevents motor vehicle crashes
 Ensures highways are safe for everyone
 Encourages safe and courteous behavior to
pedestrians, drivers, passengers etc.
 Oversees motor vehicle safety and equipment
Consumer product safety
commission By: Kasey Theil
• It is a commission that establishes standard safety
• We have it to protect the public against risks of
consumer-related products
• Also used to develop uniform safety standards
for consumer products
• promotes research into causes and prevention of
product-related deaths, illnesses, and injuries
They help consumers prevent mail fraud, mail
theft, identity theft, and mailbox vandalism.
 They offer a place to report mailbox vandalisms
too.
 The U.S. Postal Inspection Service helps victims
of crimes.
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They inform victims if the status of an investigation changes.
Educate victims about the criminal justice system.
FTC
Tyler Orr
 To Prevent unfair, deceptive, or unfair
business
 To inform the public of the competitive
process
 maintain competition by ending
anticompetitive business acts
 To do so without hindering legitimist
businesses
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purpose is to ensure that all American food that is
manufactured and consumed is safe, nutritious and
sustainable.
 They enforce regulations about food handling,
preparation and manufacturing.
 they figure out ways to make crops healthier.
 they employ over 100,000 employees
Agency Section 7 Ruth
The Better Business Bureau
• Help relationships through consumer and
business education for public and businesses
• Want consumers to feel confident and to help
contribute to the business environment
• Allow access to information on some companies
for consumer
• Have dispute resolution to help consumers with
businesses
• Do not allow false advertising for their consumers
• Mutual between business and consumer
Consumers Union (Consumer
Reports Magazine)
• Consumer unions are
organizations that look out for the
consumer by testing products
• This allows for them o provide
truthful information to help
consumers make informed
decisions
• These unions are typically nonprofit
• Makes revenue from Consumer
Report Magazine
• Does not receive products from
companies to stay impartial
By Leenah
Alas
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It was first established on July 1st 1973 by
President Nixon the DEA has been operation
for almost forty years.
It enforces the federal drug laws in the US. It
is also responsible for drug investigations
abroad.
It also serves to support non – enforcement
programs dedicated to stopping the selling of
illicit drugs.
It’s annual budget is 2.87 billion dollars.
National Do Not Call Registry- Aaditya Rawal
 Allows you to register for free and forever
 Once you are on for 31 days, telemarketers can’t call
that number
 If they do, you can call them and complain
National Consumers League
-Tyler Schwallie
Purposes…
 Identify and Label goods made under fair,
safe, and healthy conditions
 Protect and Promote economic and social
justice for consumers in the United States and
abroad
 To represent consumers on Marketplace and
Workplace issues
STATE LICENSING AGENCIES
•Issue
Licenses
•Gives consumers assurance
that the license holder is
qualified
•Doctors, teachers, roofers,
hair stylists, architects, and
even professional wrestlers
•By:
Michael Morones
The Dating Scam
Tyler Nikolich
Characteristics of Dating Scammers:
• Their picture too attractive
• They claim to be very wealthy
• They claim to live in your country but they claim they are working overseas so they can’t visit
• They profess their love to you very frequently
• They ask for money
•They have bad grammar and spelling (they may not speak English)
• They claim to be widows or widowers
Cash for Gold
Connor Harrell
•Scrap Rates- value is measured by the weight
and gold content
•They have the intent to melt the gold after you
sell it
•Many sellers only get one offer and they get
scammed
•Sellers should try and go to as many places to
have a choice to see which price is the best
•Some companies have horrible reviews online
but the seller does not know about them
Nigerian Phishing Scams
A form of advance fee fraud
 Victim is defrauded for monetary gain
 Present in Nigeria, Spain, Netherlands, and
South Africa
 Often an email address is used to gather
further information
 Methods include key logging, phishing, and
false computer viruses
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Emma O’Brien
Checks Scam
 Persuades the victim that they
 After the victim gets the
have won something, in order
to receive their information.
 The check is usually only a
small amount of the ‘prize’ that
you would have won.
check, they’re instructed to
deposit the check and wire the
money back to the ‘sponsors’.
 The victim will be responsible
for the amount of the fake
check, and the money that
was wired to the scammers.
-Beware of FREE TRIALS! They are just
scams that could harm your body!
-Avoid Asian Diet Pills, not credible in
United States, plus can contain toxins to
harm our great nation’s population!
-Make sure that you read the labels to
dieting pills carefully… most counterfeit
come from outside countries and have
spelling errors in them!
•It is when Online Auctions are actually scams, or
the seller commits Fraud.
•It is usually individuals or scamming enterprises
from West Africa and Romania.
•The most common Scams are:
1. Overpayment- sends a fake check/counterfeit
cash
2. Second-Chance Schemes- When Scammers
contact “already scammed” people with a second
chance to buy their wanted item at a lower price.
ONLINE AUCTION SCAMS - PETER SOKALSKI
It is when Online Auctions are actually scams, or the
seller commits Fraud.
•It is usually individuals or scamming enterprises from
West Africa and Romania.
•The most common Scams are:
1. Overpayment- sends a fake check/counterfeit
cash
2. Second-Chance Schemes- When Scammers
contact “already scammed” people with a second
chance to buy their wanted item at a lower price.
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People most commonly start hoax emails to see how
far their messages will spread.
Some hoaxes start out as a joke aimed towards a
specific group, but friends send it out to their friends
and the message is out.
A hoax email may have been sent out because the
author misinterpreted something and felt the need to
let others know about it.
Hoaxes might also be started for the purpose of
discrediting a company or individual.
Spammers sometimes create hoax emails as a way
of subsequently collecting email addresses.
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They say anything to cheat people out of
their money
Scammers use fake prizes, products or
services as bait.
They can call, email, mail, texts and ads
You might get offers such as: travel
packages, credit & loans, exaggerated
business, or extended car warranties
•Having you work from home, doing envelope stuffing, craft
assembly, or other tasks where you are (supposedly) paid by
company as an employee.
•They’ll do anything to cheat people out of their money.
• An accessible way to get taken on the part of a scam work at a rate
of home company is when they ask a person to pay them money.
•The whole concept is the scam company makes their outstanding
income end point potential work at a rate of home employees, not
through a real efficient.
By: Anna Lockwood and Samantha Loch
State Public Utilities Commissions
• Regulate the rates charged:
-electric
-gas
-water companies
- sometimes telephone services
• Protect consumers from unfair pricing. (public
utilities are legal monopolies)
• Legal monopolies – company that is allowed to
operate without competition.
State Insurance Commissions
• State government bodies responsible for
regulating the activities of insurers and health
plans.
• Control and approve insurance rates
State Licensing Agencies
• Issue licenses, or legal permits o conduct
business.
• Licenses provide assurance to consumers that
the license holder is qualified to do service.
• These jobs require licenses:
-Doctors
-Hair Stylist
-Teachers
-Architects
-Roofers
-Professional Wrestlers
Section 24.2 Brooks
•Charging more for the same product
or service in markets or to different
customers.
•Business must justify giving a one
customer a lower price than another.
•Labels truthfully list all things
used in the
products(ingredients)
•Labels must have the name and
place of business of the
distributor
CUSTOMER SERVICE
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Customer service -a service to customers before,
during and after a purchase.
The importance of customer service is to take
care of problems with products
 “Many organizations have made a customer
service policy or have a variety of options to
improve their customer satisfaction levels
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