Attorney General Eric Holder recently launched the Consumer Protection Working Group to combat consumer fraud nationwide, which has the capability to cripple households and cause extensive losses to the economy.
The group, which was formed under President Barack Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, will address several areas of concern including payday lending and other high-pressure telemarketing or Internet scams, business opportunity schemes, for-profit schools that engage in misrepresentation and fraudulent third party payment processors that facilitate payments on behalf of other fraudsters without the permission of the customer.
Federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies will work with state and local partners to address consumer-related fraudulent activities. The group will watch schemes that target consumers facing financial hardship like the unemployed and distressed borrowers as well as those scams that take advantage of individuals suffering from the burden of high credit card and other debt.
The new working group will also focus on scams that exploit prospective students, active-duty military personnel and veterans.
“The schemes we are combating are as diverse as the imaginations of those who perpetrate them, and as sophisticated as modern technology will permit. We are tackling financial fraud, in all its forms, head on,” Holder said.
“Through the extensive and coordinated partnership we start today, we will strengthen our collective efforts, enhance civil and criminal enforcement of consumer fraud and educate the public in an effort to prevent consumers from being victimized in the first place.”
At the group's first meeting, members discussed taking collaborative steps to continue to seek out and prosecute consumer fraud as well as protect consumers from fraud before it happens through outreach and education. The group plans to establish a best-practices tool kit, legislative, regulatory and policy initiatives and an information sharing structure.
