Consumer and Business Education Activities
Consumer Protection Mission
Publications and Other Products
The Office of Consumer and Business Education produced 61 new and revised publications: 55 for consumers and 6 for business; they included 22 updates and one publication in Spanish. Distribution exceeded 4.1 million copies.
The Office produced two radio public service announcements (PSAs). The PSA on the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), produced in English and Spanish, was distributed to an estimated 2,200 stations. The other, which promoted The Real Deal booklet, was sent to 500 radio stations and networks.
The Office produced several new "products," including tip cards, bookmarks, book covers, and flyers, and redesigned its Facts for Consumers format to enhance readability. Among the year's special products were two award-winning publications: The Real Deal, an activity booklet for pre-teens, and Viatical Settlements, widely distributed through the Internet.
Internet Activities
The Office established ConsumerLine in 1995 to enhance distribution. In fiscal year 1996, ConsumerLine received more than 140,000 "hits" (accesses to individual publications or categories).
The Office established World Wide Web pages for ConsumerLine and the new TSR. It also established a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) feature, which provides a forum for Commission staff to answer consumers' online questions. The Office arranged for hyperlinks to and from many Web pages (government and non-government) to increase publication visibility and accessibility.
The Office initiated the Commission effort to develop a federal interagency consumer information Web site. During the last quarter of 1996, the Office registered the "consumer.gov" domain name, elicited the partnership of five other federal consumer protection and law enforcement agencies, and began design and development.
Cooperative Projects
The Office continued to work with the National Association of Attorneys General; in addition, it cooperated with the Federal Communications Commission to produce brochures on telephone leasing and high-tech telecommunications scams, with the American Express Company to write and distribute brochures on cybershopping and the use of credit for college students, and with the Direct Marketing Association to produce a compliance guide to the TSR and a business checklist for direct marketers.
The Office furnished the Securities and Exchange Commission with more than 3,000 copies of Investing in Interactive TV Licenses to be included with letters to complainants, worked with the Social Security Administration to augment the Commission's mailing list for Viatical Settlements, and worked with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to distribute information about office supply scams, and other business publications.
The Office helped support town meetings produced by regional office staff and the Commission's Office of Congressional Affairs. The Office also participated in an "expo" with 60 other government agencies for Public Service Recognition Week, distributing 10,000 copies of agency publications in three days. It continued its work with the Consumer Literacy Consortium, a group of more than 20 private and public sector organizations headed by the Consumer Federation of America, to market 66 Ways to Save Money, and its work with the Alliance Against Fraud in Telemarketing.
In September, the Commission announced several actions against companies that guarantee scholarships to high school or college students. As part of this effort, the Office developed a campaign to educate students and parents about scholarship scams. The Office disseminated posters and other materials through the 3,600 member stores of the National Association of College Stores and via the ConsumerLine. In addition, the Office elicited the cooperation of six major educational organizations and the Interactive Services Association to promote the materials through professional journals, newsletters, and the Web. The Office also disseminated materials produced by Sallie Mae (a nationwide provider of student loans) to high school counselors, teachers, and students. The education campaign will continue through spring 1997.
Finally, the Office spearheaded the Partnership for Consumer Education, an innovative cooperative effort among 84 federal agencies, private industry, and consumer organizations to provide effective consumer education campaigns against fraud. As its first project, the Commission targeted various telemarketing scams, including investment fraud. This new approach to marketing products and messages to various industry, trade, and professional organizations helped to expand the audience for consumer and industry education. Since its launch in January 1996, the partnership has disseminated 90 million fraud-prevention messages.
Telemarketing Fraud Information
To mark the first anniversary of the TSR, the Commission and its partners developed a national education campaign, "Spread the Word About Telemarketing Fraud." The centerpiece is an action kit containing background information, a fact sheet, a list of suggested activities that organizations can undertake in support of the initiative, a consumer quiz, a sample press release, sample op-ed and newsletter articles, public service announcements, and a form for ordering additional education materials.
The kit is distributed widely to partners, consumer organizations, the media, and government agencies, and is available on the Web (www.ftc.gov/telemarketing). Partners have carried out a wide range of activities to strengthen and expand the effectiveness of the Partnership and the "Spread the Word" campaign. For example, American Express placed an educational message in its Optima billing statement; the Atlanta Metropolitan Transit Authority has placed public service messages on buses and trains; the Administration on Aging placed a newsletter article that generated wide interest and support among Area Agencies on Aging; Spiegel placed a PSA in several sales catalogs; The Industry Council for Tangible Assets has asked relevant publishers to include articles in newsletters; the International Credit Association is having information about credit fraud incorporated into high-school teachers' guides; and the Publisher's Clearinghouse developed an envelope stuffer about sweepstakes fraud.
Additional Consumer Education Partnerships
For "Operation Copycat," a law enforcement effort focusing on office supply scams, the Office produced a brochure and tip card, directed toward small businesses and nonprofit organizations, the most frequent victims of this scam. These products were distributed to nearly 350 trade and business publications with a combined circulation of 24 million. The Office arranged for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, whose more than 1,500 members represent approximately 90 percent of the chambers in the United States, to help publicize and distribute the brochure and tip card. In addition, the SBA agreed to distribute the brochure through its 70 regional offices. Online dissemination of the brochure originated with ConsumerLine and was hyperlinked to the U.S. Business Advisor's Web site.
In an educational campaign to fight advance-fee employment scams, the Office developed a brochure and tip card and coordinated the participation of five major human resource and placement industry organizations. The groups promoted the brochure and tip card in their member newsletters and magazines, and three of the groups added the publications to their Web sites. In addition, the Office sent the brochure to 23 industry magazines. The major industry publication, the Fordyce Letter, ran a story on the Commission's educational campaign.