Safety belts for armchair shoppers

By NANCY PARADIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 22, 2000

Ah, to shop till you drop and never have to leave home. Telephones, personal computers, even the doorbell have made it all so easy.

The last three columns have dealt with the topic of shopping safely from home, the theme of this year's National Consumer Protection Week, spearheaded by the Federal Trade Commission and a number of federal and state agencies and other public and private consumer protection advocates. Today we offer more tips on how to avoid becoming a fraud statistic, from Armchair Armor: Shopping Safely From Home, an informational brochure prepared for National Consumer Protection Week. For a copy, call the FTC's Consumer Response Center at (877) 382-4357 (FTC-HELP) or write to Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580. The quiz is also available at the federal government's Web site: http://www.consumer.gov.

Mail. The growth of direct mail marketing continues because it enables sellers to target their advertising for specific geographic, demographic or interest groups. While most are legitimate, some companies or individuals, unfortunately, are not.

It's against the law to use the mail to cheat folks out of money. Federal mail fraud laws apply whether the mail is used to send solicitations to consumers, to receive payments from them or to transmit information from one company location to another. It's illegal for private or commercial interstate delivery services to be used as part of a fraudulent scheme.

The law does not stop there, however. It's also illegal to use the mail or other delivery service to send lottery tickets or solicitations across state lines or from another country into the United States. Finally, federal law prohibits mail that looks as if it's from a government agency when it isn't (note to readers: you may have to delve into the fine print to determine this), or that looks like an invoice when no goods or services were ever ordered unless it clearly states that it isn't a bill for services but only a sales solicitation (ditto the caveat about reading the fine print).

Report suspected mail fraud to your local U.S. Postal Inspection Service or postmaster. More information is available at the U.S. Postal Service's Web site: http://www.usps.gov.

Internet. The World Wide Web has given consumers many more opportunities to shop from home. It has also given fraudulent vendors one more way to get into your wallets. Identifying them can be difficult, given how easy it is for anyone to create a flashy Web site or send a seemingly friendly e-mail. Since information about you and your buying habits become a commodity that can be sold to other marketers -- and you know the kind of unwanted junk mail and solicitations that can unleash -- it's important to check out the privacy policy of any online vendor you want to shop with. No privacy policy or one that does not offer you options about how your personal information will be used is a warning to use caution. Generally, the only information a vendor legitimately needs is the password you established with it (don't use your computer or network password and do use a different password each time you register with a new site), your credit card number and delivery address.

Make sure you shop on a secure server, where your credit card information is protected. Secure servers are indicated by a locked key or padlock at the bottom of the browser screen. Information sent by a secure server is turned into a secret code -- encrypted -- for online transmission. Only those with proper decoding software can access the data. The software is closely guarded, and the U.S. government does not allow its export to foreign countries. Many overseas companies have developed their own secure server software.

Suspected fraud should be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov or by calling its toll-free hotline at (877) 382-4357 (FTC-HELP); the national Fraud Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch program at http://www.fraud.org or by calling its toll-free hotline at (800) 876-7060; or to the local FBI office.

Telemarketing. Telemarketing fraud is a multibillion-dollar business in this country. No one is immune. Calls can be generated from the telephone directory, mailing lists or "sucker" lists of people who have already lost money through fraudulent promotions or sales. Knowing the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule can help you spot the obviously fraudulent calls.

Telemarketers cannot call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. They also may not call you if you have asked not to be called. They are required, by law, to tell you they're making a sales call and for whom before launching into the sales pitch. They may not misrepresent any information.

Before you pay they must tell you the total cost of the products or services offered, any restrictions on getting or using them and whether the sale is final or non-refundable once you pay. If the call concerns a prize promotion, you must be told the odds of winning and that no payment is necessary to win. Any restrictions of conditions of receiving the prize must also be relayed.

Prizes are free, so if you're asked to pay, hang up. Your best bet is to tell the caller to send you the information in writing. If the caller refuses, you have just been given another reason to hang up.

Action solves problems and gets answers for you. If you have a question, or your own attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, (800) 333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request.

We may require additional information or prefer to reply by mail; therefore, readers must provide a full mailing address, including ZIP code. Names of letter writers will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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