MilConsumer Blog Feed

The FTC received more than 3 million complaints in 2015. That’s up from 2.5 million in 2014. Some of the increase can be attributed to the fact that more people know to complain to the FTC about bad business practices, frauds and scams. Technology helped, too — more complaints are reaching the FTC through the convenience of mobile apps. The top three complaint categories are still debt collection, identity theft, and imposter scams. The FTC took aggressive action in 2015 to help address each area and will continue to make each a high priority in 2016.

Every year, military installations and organizations around the world join forces to motivate, support, and encourage servicemembers and military families to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth through a week of financial focus and education. Since 2007, more than 200,000 Savers have accepted the challenge of Military Saves Week. What is that challenge? The Military Saves Pledge. The Pledge is a commitment to exercise good financial habits, improve financial readiness, and encourage other Americans to do the same. "I will help myself by saving money, reducing debt, and building wealth over time. I will help my family and my country by encouraging other Americans to Build Wealth, Not Debt." Military Saves encourages all servicemembers, their families, and civilian employees to take the Military Saves Pledge, and to "Set a Goal. Make a Plan. Save Automatically."

Making a plan is one thing. Sticking to it: quite another. During 2015, the FTC made a plan to address some new and troubling issues in debt collection. Throughout the course of the year, we stuck to that plan – bringing a record number of new cases, banning bad debt collectors, talking with industry, and finding new ways to do outreach.

We’re hearing from our colleagues that those pesky government imposters are at it again, using the FTC’s name to try to con people into paying them for something. Whether it’s to clean up your credit report, give you a prize, resolve a complaint against you, or pay off a debt you owe, they’re all lies. The message may be a call or an email, but it isn’t from the Federal Trade Commission, or any other federal agency.

A strong password is a great way to prevent hackers and identity thieves from accessing your accounts. But what if you share it with someone you know? Many teens and young adults are giving passwords to friends or loved ones as a sign of trust or love. After all, sharing is caring, right? But what might seem like a milestone in a relationship can turn out to be a very harmful decision.

Thousands of people downloaded a popular 3D browser-based game from the Chrome Web Store. That game, described as a "fast-paced, action-packed free-running castle adventure game," advertised "High Speed Acrobatics," "Awesome Outfits and Skills," and "Insanely Dangerous Worlds."

We get it. You’ve got holiday hangover. Bills are trickling in for the gifts you bought last year. You’re already having trouble keeping the resolutions you just made. And you can’t bring yourself to take down the holiday decorations. To top it off, tax forms are beginning to fill your inbox. Is it tax season already?!

Millions of people are affected by identity theft each year. It might start with a mysterious credit card charge, a bill you don’t recognize, or a letter from the IRS that says you already got your refund — even though you didn’t. If someone uses your information to make purchases, open new accounts, or get a tax refund, that’s identity theft. Recovering from identity theft often takes time and persistence. That’s why today’s announcement from the FTC is a big deal: New features at IdentityTheft.gov make it easier to report and recover from identity theft.

The season of giving is over — well, sort of. For many people, December’s gift-giving and feasting means a bigger-than-usual credit card bill in January. You know the advice: it’s always good to pay off your balance in full. But if you can’t, we’ve got some tips for paying down credit card debt:

It’s tax season, and you know what that means: identity thieves who want to steal your tax refund are at work. Find out how to stop them during Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week, January 25-29. The FTC and its partners are hosting a series of events to help you understand tax identity theft, how to minimize your risk of becoming a victim, and what to do if thieves have stolen your tax refund. Check these out: