Released: July 13, 2006

Federal protection for consumers

Source: By Eileen Alt Powell, Associate Press

Earlier this year, consumers who thought they were requesting a free trial of a tooth whitener from an Internet site soon found withdrawals of $106.90 from their bank accounts or similar charges to their credit cards, according to a nonprofit consumer education group.

Consumer Action, based in San Francisco, said it appeared that people who asked for the free samples were automatically enrolled in a recurring payments program for the product, whether they wanted it or not.

In this case, most of the victims of the scam had federal law on their side to get their money back, said Linda Sherry, a spokeswoman for the group.

In fact, there are more than two dozen consumer protection laws aimed at keeping people safe in financial dealings that range from check writing to credit and debit card payments, setting the interest rates on loans, investing, data privacy and the accuracy of credit reports.

But, Sherry points out, “some of them can be confusing, so consumers have to make sure they’re taking the right steps” in filing complaints and claims in a timely manner if something goes wrong. 

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