Consumer Sentinel Network

Article Type: Policing on the web From: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Volume 31, Issue 4

As economies around the world continue their movement towards a cashless society, with more and more business being conducted via the internet and telephone, the task of responding to complaints concerning consumer fraud has become quite a daunting one. However, there are resources that can make that task a bit more manageable. One such resource – the Consumer Sentinel Network – is an internet-based investigative resource maintained by the Federal Trade Commission that provides law enforcement agencies with invaluable assistance in responding to and investigating complaints concerning consumer fraud and identity theft.

The primary resource offered by the Consumer Sentinel Network is a searchable database of consumer fraud complaints. The database contains a variety of fraud complaints, including complaints such as: identity theft, violations related to the Do-Not-Call Registry, online auction and sales fraud, telemarketing fraud,loan and credit fraud, debt collections and financial matters, contest and lottery fraud, and even fraud concerning health and weight loss products. Through maintaining this database and allowing law enforcement members access to it, the Consumer Sentinel Network aims to make law enforcement agencies’efforts to investigate consumer fraud both more efficient and more effective. To gain access to the consumer complaints database, law enforcement agencies must join the Consumer Sentinel Network; however, membership is free to law enforcement agencies. As of May 30, 2008, there were 1,758 such members representing local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the USA,Canada and Australia.

Another resource of the network is the web page of the Consumer Sentinel Network (available at www.ftc.gov/sentinel). Via the aforementioned web page, law enforcement agencies can access a wealth of information and resources. For example, via the Consumer Sentinel Network web page, law enforcement agencies can access a number of annual statistical reports concerning trends in consumer fraud and identity theft in the USA and Canada,and the results of the Federal Trade Commission’s survey on Consumer Fraud in the USA. Also available on the web page of the Consumer Sentinel Network is an information page related to consumer safety tips and fact sheets about the Consumer Sentinel Network. Finally, the web page for the Consumer Sentinel Network features a hyperlink to econsumer.gov (a joint consumer-protection project of 21 nations around the globe) and a hyperlink to Military Sentinel (a joint effort of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Defense aimed at protecting members of the armed forces and their families from consumer fraud).

In conclusion, the Consumer Sentinel Network can prove to be a valuable to law enforcement agencies, whether they are faced with the daunting tasks of responding to and investigating complaints of consumer fraud or merely seeking consumer safety tips to pass on to concerned citizens. Either way, the website for the Consumer Sentinel Network is a worthy starting point.

J.W. Carter IICollege of Mount St Joseph, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA