National Consumer Protection week offers tips

The Better Business Bureau is joining federal, state, and local government agencies and national organizations to celebrate the 13th annual National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) March 6-12. During NCPW, groups nationwide share tips and information that help consumers protect their privacy, manage money, avoid identity theft, and avoid frauds and scams. This year, the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula will provide daily Consumer Tips throughout the week and recommends five easy stepsto take to become a savvy consumer. "In a tough economy, it's more important than ever to protect the money you have from scammers and bad businesses," said Patrick Bennett, BBB spokesperson. "A few simple steps will go a long way to fighting off the common cons and rip-offs that steals millions from unsuspecting consumers every year." BBB recommends the five following tips to protect your wallet against scammers and unscrupulous businesses: * Get everything in writing and always read the fine print. Contracts, customer agreements and fine print protect the business and outline the terms of the agreement with the customer. While it's natural to want to avoid reading the legalese, it's important that customers understand their rights. Whenever signing a contract, BBB recommends reading the fine print carefully--even if it means taking it home and sleeping on it. Also, don't just take a sales associates' word for it; get all verbal promises in writing. * Protect your identity--and your pocketbook. Fighting identity theft means staying vigilant online and off. Protect your identity by taking the following steps: - Always shred sensitive documents that include personal financial information such as bank, credit card and Social Security numbers. - Monitor financial accounts closely to more quickly detect suspicious activity. - Make sure computers have up-to-date anti-virus software and be extremely selective when opening attachments or clicking on links in e-mails. - Shop online through secure sites only and always confirm that the business is trustworthy before entering a credit or debit card number. * Never wire money to strangers. Many scams bilk victims by convincing them to wire money. The reasons for wiring the money can vary and include mystery shopping, paying fees to win a lottery, and--if the target is a small business owner--overpayment for goods or services. Scammers know it's extremely difficult to track money sent via MoneyGram or Western Union. More troubling for victims is the fact that it's nearly impossible to get your money back. Even if a check to supposedly cover the amount being wired is provided, never send money to a stranger. * Know where to complain. For anyone ripped off by a business, there are any number of organizations and government agencies that want to hear about it. File a complaint with: Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org/us/file-complaint, Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov, and Michigan Attorney General. Anyone ripped off by a scam online--such as a phishing e-mail or deceptive website--can also file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.IC3.gov. * Always check businesses out with BBB. Nearly 400,000 businesses bear the BBB seal of accreditation and meet BBB standards. However, BBB doesn't just report on accredited businesses. Anyone can check out BBB Business Reviews for nearly 4 million businesses across North America for free by visiting http://easternmichigan.bbb.org/Find-Business-Reviews/. A BBB Business Review will say how many complaints the company has received, whether the company responds to complaints and much more. Published: Tue, Mar 8, 2011