Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC steps up efforts to fight fraud in the Latino community, (Jul 17, 2014)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

After receiving more than two million complaints from consumers in 2013, the FTC is taking action to raise awareness on fraud and debt collection practices in the Latino community.

Fotonovela. Most recently, the Commission released its first Spanish-language “fotonovela,” or comic-book like pamphlet, providing practical tips to Spanish speakers on how to tell when a telephone call, text message, or email is from a government imposter. The fotonovela, titled Impostores del Gobierno, which is based on real complaints the FTC received from Spanish speakers across the U.S., details the story of a young woman who receives a call from a man claiming to be from the government, and who scams her into sending him money. The pamphlet informs readers that the government will never give money by way of phone, email, or text, and that requests for wired money or the use of a pre-paid card in return for a “prize” is a scam.

Roundtable discussion. The FTC is also partnering with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to co-host a roundtable, examining how debt collection issues affect Latino consumers, particularly individuals who have limited English proficiency. The discussion, titled “Debt Collection & the Latino Community” is free and open to the public, and will provide a platform for academics, consumer advocates, industry representatives, and state and federal regulators to discuss these issues.

The event will take place on October 23, 2014, from 8:00AM to 5:00PM, at the Pointe Conference Center at California State University, located at: 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840. Comments and ideas regarding the roundtable may be sent to: DebtCollectionRT@ftc.gov or info@consumerfinance.gov.

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews