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Consumer Topics

| General Information | Telephone Slamming | Bill Collectors |

General Information

To browse through a broad range of federal information resources available online, you may want to visit the U.S. Consumer Gateway web site maintained by the Federal Trade Commission.  The Consumer Gateway site is designed so that you can locate information by category -- such as Food, Health, Product Safety, Your Money, and Transportation. Each category has subcategories to direct you to areas within individual federal web sites containing related information. It also has information on fraudulent and deceptive practices in the market place and important law-enforcement information and tips to avoid scams.

Many general consumer matters are better handled or - in some cases - exclusively handled by State and/or local government and we encourage you to check with these authorities in addition to Federal offices.

If you’re unsure which agency in your State would handle a particular issue, you may call our National Contact Center toll-free 1 (800) FED INFO, or check our State and Local Government web page.

For general guidance on resolving consumer complaints, take a look through the Consumer Action Website.

Telephone Slamming

This is the illegal practice of changing your long distance company without your permission. If you feel this has happened to you, your best source for information is the Federal Communications Commission.

Bill Collectors

Both Federal and State laws regulate the activities of certain bill and debt collectors. If you are not sure whether a bill collector is respecting your rights under your State’s laws, you may inquire at the appropriate office within your State (check our State and Local Government web page), often the office of the Attorney General. You may check about compliance to Federal law on the web site of the Federal Trade Commission.Image linking to top of page

Reviewed: August 4, 2004

Logo of the General Services AdministrationThis service is provided by the Federal Citizen Information Center of the U.S. General Services Administration. If you have a comment or question, e-mail us.