National Consumer Protection week prompts advice from BBB, Virginia attorney general
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March 6-12 is National Consumer Protection Week, and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and the Better Business Bureau are offering advice for Virginians about how to protect themselves.
The attorney general’s office serves as the central clearinghouse in Virginia for the receipt, evaluation, and referral of consumer complaints and also operates a Consumer Protection Hotline – which last year handled more than 14,000 calls from consumers needing assistance. Those calls resulted in more than 5,000 formal complaints.
The top 10 complaint subjects were:
1. automotive sales;
2. credit, loans and debt collection;
3. home improvement, service and repair;
4. entertainment;
5. warranties and rebates;
6. internet sales and service;
7. automotive service and repair;
8. medical/health professions;
9. other professional services;
10. (tie) timeshares and recreation property; transportation and freight.
In addition to serving as Virginia’s clearinghouse for consumer complaints, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section also offers dispute resolution services to individual consumers and businesses to assist them in resolving consumer complaints.
The Dispute Resolution Unit can serve as a neutral facilitator and point of contact between consumers and businesses as they voluntarily work toward a mutually agreeable outcome. Last year, the unit and the section’s investigators resolved or closed 3,881 consumer complaints with consumers recovering $507,809.
Consumers should protect themselves by taking a number of steps, according to the BBB. Those include:
• never sending money to someone you don’t know, especially by wire transfer, prepaid debit card or gift card;
• never clicking on links or attachments in unsolicited emails or texts;
• not trusting the legitimacy of something by its looks, since emails and websites are easy to fake with copied logos and graphics;
• not trusting your caller ID, which can be faked to read any way a crook wants it to read;
• buying online only from legitimate sources with a website address that has the “s” in “https,” and look for the “lock” icon in the address bar as well;
• looking up any company you’re unfamiliar with at BBB.org;
• keeping your banking, Social Security and insurance numbers closely guarded;
• not falling for scams that pressure you to act quickly;
• getting details in writing and read them thoroughly;
• not oversharing on social media, because con artists can collect your information from such sources and use it to make you think they know you;
• keeping your travel plans to yourself and only share them after the fact;
• shredding junk mail, old documents, bills and medical paperwork;
• monitoring your accounts and check out any unknown transaction, even for tiny amounts (crooks often start with small amounts to see if you pay attention);
• using strong passwords and keep software and virus protections updated constantly.
To learn more about consumer protection in Virginia, visit the attorney general’s Consumer Complaint Database. There, you can find the number of complaints filed against a specific business, whether the complaints are open or closed, a description of the complaint topic, the outcome of individual complaints, and other information.
Virginians who have a question, concern, or complaint about a consumer matter should contact the office’s Consumer Protection Section at (800) 552-9963 or consumer@oag.state.va.us or file a complaint online.
To look up online marketplace business profiles, file a complaint, or write a customer review, visit bbb.org. Visit the BBB Scam Tracker to research and report scams.
For details about National Consumer Protection Week events, click here.
