MilConsumer Blog Feed

The FTC, the nation’s consumer protection agency, first warned consumers to be on the lookout for flood-damaged cars in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Almost a year later, news reports indicate that water-damaged cars that endured Hurricane Sandy are being sold by private sellers and showing up on used car lots. AAA officials say nearly two-thirds of cars damaged in Hurricane Sandy are showing up in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Illinois and Mississippi. These polished-up cars may look great on the outside, but the damage lurking on the inside from being submerged in corrosive saltwater for days will only lead to problems down the road.

So you’ve just reported to your first duty station and you’re thinking you could use a set of wheels. Just make sure you’re not the one who gets rolled. There’s an army of car salesmen camped outside your base. And their mission is to capture a large piece of your paycheck – and many paychecks to come. To navigate the minefield of car buying, keep these tips in mind:

On July 17 th , the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) was proud to partner with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and other governmental agencies and advocacy organizations, to celebrate the first ever Military Consumer Protection Day at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Military Consumer Protection Day is an organized, national promotion to equip service-members, veterans, and their families with the knowledge and resources they need to make positive consumer financial decisions and avoid fraud. The Military Consumer Protection Day’s Inaugural Congressional Information Fair on Capitol Hill provided an opportunity for NACA and other partner organizations to highlight the plethora of resources we have to offer service-member consumers and their families.

We’re all consumers and information is the first line of defense in the marketplace. Everyone can benefit from amping up their consumer know-how and getting the inside skinny on avoiding scams.

Today, the first Military Consumer Protection Day (MCPD), we’re joining 26 other federal, state government, and non-profit organizations – including the Department of Defense, the Federal Trade Commission and Military Saves – to highlight free consumer protection resources for military members. These resources can help servicemembers, military families, and veterans guard themselves against consumer fraud and make better-informed decisions when managing and spending their money.

Are you a Coast Guard service member who needs help with managing your personal finances? Have you tried to access certain resources to no avail? Are you currently having problems with budgeting, paying bills on time, accumulating debt, divorce and/or retirement planning? Well, you are in luck, Coast Guard has a Personal Financial Management Program dedicated to serving the great men and women of the Coast Guard to include their family members.

Because of their steady income, their highly mobile lifestyle, and the fact that they are held to higher standards of debt repayment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, servicemembers can fall prey to a variety of scams including identity theft, telemarketing and phishing (which is when crooks attempt to get personal information from you that they can then use to defraud you). Scammers take advantage of those who are financially vulnerable and lacking in financial education.

As more individual investors consider adding futures and off-exchange foreign currency (forex) trading to their investment portfolios, it is essential that they find out as much as they can about a firm before opening a trading account. That’s why National Futures Association (NFA) has been working diligently to upgrade our investor research capabilities in an effort to provide greater transparency for futures investors and assist them in conducting due diligence.

Identity theft is an unfortunate fact of modern life. Do you know what to do if your identity is stolen? How can you make identity protection part of your routine? Get answers to these and other identity theft questions during our Twitter Chat July 10 at 2 pm (EDT) . FTC staff will host a one-hour session with our partners at DoD’s Military One Source and Military Saves.

Today marks the 10 th anniversary of the opening of the National Do Not Call Registry . What a fitting day for the FTC’s announcement of the biggest civil penalty ever collected in a Do Not Call case. Mortgage Investors Corporation has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle charges that its telemarketers called more than 5.4 million current and former U.S. service members whose phone numbers were on the Do Not Call Registry. According to the FTC...