April 21, 2010

Contact: (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Private student loans are one of the riskiest, most expensive ways to pay for college. Like credit cards, they typically have variable interest rates that are higher for those who can least afford them. However, private student loans are treated much more harshly in bankruptcy than credit cards and other comparable types of debt.

NCL, along with nearly two dozen organizations, have sent a letter to Steve Cohen, Chairman of the U.S. HouseSubcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Committee on the Judiciary, offering strong support for the Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2010.

Click here to read the letter. 

April 7, 2010

Contact: (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League, the nation’s oldest consumer organization, has sent a letter today to Joseph A. Main, Assistant Secretary of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), calling on the federal mine safety agency to improve mine safety in order to protect the lives of workers and offering the League’s support in doing so.

“We need beefed-up safety regulations, higher fines for violators, and expedited processes for forcing mines with safety violations to address the hazards,” wrote the League’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg in the letter to Main. “We stand ready to support the efforts of the Mine Safety and Health Administration in providing these added protections.”

Founded in 1899, NCL’s mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. 

NCL’s letter cites concerns about “the litany of safety violations and fines incurred by the Performance Coal Company’s Upper Big Branch mine, which is the site of the latest tragic mining accident. Upper Big Branch has been written up 50 times in the last month for safety violations. At least 25 workers have now died and four mine workers are unaccounted for as a result of this latest accident.”

NCL’s letter goes on to say, “There are many ways to mitigate the hazards miners face and good companies with strong unions can help to ensure the safest possible environment for mine workers. We note that the Upper Big Branch Mine’s owners fought unionization and the company is a nonunion workplace. The men killed at Upper Big Branch mine did not have to die. We believe their untimely deaths are a result of a series of decisions that compromised their safety.”

Click here to read a copy of the letter.

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About the National Consumers League

Founded in 1899, the National Consumers League is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Its mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

April 1, 2010

Contact: 202-835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC – As LifeSmarts state champions are determined at local competitions across the country, the National Consumers League is gearing up for the 2010 National LifeSmarts Championship and has announced a new study aid for coaches and students prepping for nationals: the Question-of-the-Day Calendar. Covering a range of subjects from health and safety to personal finance and the environment, the LifeSmarts Question-of-the-Day Calendars are underwritten by major companies, government agencies, and organizations. The April calendar, featuring practice questions with an emphasis on consumer rights and responsibilities, was sponsored by Western Union.

Each month, the official LifeSmarts Web site (www.lifesmarts.org) will feature a calendar containing dozens of retired competition questions for use as a study aid. The LifeSmarts daily calendars provide one challenge question related to the monthly topic area for each school day.

“Teachers and coaches may use the calendar questions to spur class discussion by asking one question per day, developing a mini-quiz given weekly, or running a simulated LifeSmarts competition,” said LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “We are grateful for Western Union’s support in making this resource available to students and coaches, especially those who will spend the next several weeks doing some last-minute cramming for the 2010 National LifeSmarts Championship in Miami.”

LifeSmarts–the ultimate consumer challenge–is an educational opportunity that develops the consumer and marketplace knowledge and skills of teenagers in a fun way and rewards them for this knowledge. The program complements the curriculum already in place in high schools and can be used as an activity for classes, groups, clubs, and community organizations. LifeSmarts, run as a game-show style competition, is open to all teens in the U.S. in high school and middle school.

LifeSmarts topics have been chosen to encourage and reward knowledge in the areas that matter most to consumers and workers in today’s marketplace: personal finance; health and safety; the environment; technology; and consumer rights and responsibilities.

In LifeSmarts, teams of four to five teens, coached by an adult participant, compete in district and state matches with the state winners going to the national competition to vie for the national LifeSmarts title. The National Consumers League will host the 16^thannual LifeSmarts National Competition in Miami Beach, Florida from April 24-27, 2010.

The National Consumers League appreciates the financial support that makes LifeSmarts possible, which allows us to provide this program at no charge to teens and adult coaches. Our sponsors — community-minded businesses, associations, labor unions, government agencies, other organizations and individuals — understand the benefits of providing meaningful consumer education for young adults.

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About the National Consumers League and LifeSmarts

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. For more information, visit: www.lifesmarts.org, email lifesmarts@nclnet.org, or call the National Consumers League’s communications department at 202-835-3323.

March 7, 2010

Contact: (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC – With the focus of this year’s National Consumer Protection Week (March 7-13) highlighting consumer education for every age – from grade school to retirement – the National Consumers League is reminding consumers, especially the youngest ones, that it pays to be “LifeSmart.” NCL, an official partner of NCPW, along with federal government agencies and other consumer organizations, runs LifeSmarts (www.lifesmarts.org), a national program for high school and middle school youth that tests students in grades 7-12 with questions about real-life marketplace issues ranging from personal finance, health and safety, the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities. So far in this 2009-2010 season, the program has recorded the highest numbers ever in its 16-year history.

What better time than National Consumer Protection Week for consumers to learn ways to manage their money wisely, protect themselves from scams, and be smart about credit,” said Lisa Hertzberg, program director of LifeSmarts. “We encourage consumers of all ages to visit the official NCPW Web site—and to log on to www.lifesmarts.org to get involved in LifeSmarts.”

The LifeSmarts competition begins online at the state level, where young consumers form teams and compete for spots at state championships across the country. State champions will go on to attend the National LifeSmarts competition in Miami, April 24-27.

“The current marketplace is a challenge for adult consumers,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “But at younger and younger ages, children are having an influence on how their families spend money.  Our LifeSmarts program, and the many resources offered by NCPW partners this year, recognize that we need to start educating our consumers when they are young. NCL is delighted to be a part of the official NCPW Steering Committee.”

During NCPW, consumer advocates join with federal, state, and local government agencies to devote a week to raising awareness about today’s consumers’ issues. This year’s efforts include free online resources, which can help consumers protect their privacy, manage money and debt, avoid identity theft, understand credit and mortgages, and steer clear of frauds and scams.

To learn more about the LifeSmarts program, contact Hertzberg at the National Consumers League at (202) 835-3323 or lisah@nclnet.org or visit www.lifesmarts.org.

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About the National Consumers League

Founded in 1899, the National Consumers League is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Its mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

February 16, 2010

Contact: (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC — The recession is helping at least some people prosper despite tough economic times – scammers preying on consumers who are looking for ways to earn money. The National Consumers League’s (NCL) annual Top Ten Scams report, released today, found that while fake check schemes continued to be the most frequently-reported scams, frauds targeting consumers hard hit by the down economy soared in 2009. The report, which is compiled from consumer complaints submitted to NCL’s Fraud Center, examined trends in Internet and telemarketing fraud in 2009.

“Consumers are looking for ways to supplement their income or learn new skills,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “Unfortunately, fraudsters know this all too well and they target vulnerable consumers with business opportunity or scholarship-related scams.”

Fake check scams—in which fraudsters lure in their victims with phony mystery shopper jobs or sweepstakes “winnings,” asking their victims to cash realistic-looking checks and wire a portion of the proceeds back to the scammer before the check bounces—continued to be the most frequently-reported scam to NCL’s Fraud Center, making up 42 percent of all complaints. Internet merchandise scams, fake sweepstakes, phishing, and Nigerian money offers remaining unchanged as second through fourth most-reported scams, respectively. Business opportunity scams and scholarships and educational grant scams, which were not top ten in 2008, became the sixth and tenth most-reported scam in 2009, respectively.

“This year, we saw a spike in complaints related to bogus business opportunities and scholarship grants,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the League. Clearly, scammers know how the economic environment is affecting consumers, and they are profiting from it.

In a typical business opportunity scam, the victim is promised unrealistic or “guaranteed” profits in return for a significant up-front investment in a business – such as magazine stands, vending machines, or Internet kiosks. Though the profits almost never materialize, the victim still loses their initial fee and the scammer disappears.  In a scholarship or educational grant scam, the victim pays a fee to the scammer in return for promises of a “guaranteed” scholarship award or generous financial aid package, which never come to fruition.

“It is especially heinous that scammers would seek to capitalize on the weak job market to make a buck off economically vulnerable consumers,” said Breyault. “Scammers offering bogus scholarships prey on people’s efforts to improve their education level or skills, efforts aimed at making themselves more marketable in a tough economy. With state and local consumer protection budgets cut to the bone by the recession, it’s even more important for consumers to stay vigilant to avoid falling victims to these frauds.”

A second notable trend in the NCL report was the link between age and vulnerability to fraud. In 2009, consumers in the top age groups—56-65 and those over 65—made up a larger portion of fraud reports than in the previous year, increasing by about 2 percent versus 2008.

“Older consumers may not be as quick to check out a company’s bogus claims on the Internet, where a lot of these scams are exposed,” said Breyault. “We urge relatives and caregivers to pay special attention to older family members who suddenly start exhibiting the signs of having fallen victim to a fraudster.” These signs include a sudden inability to pay monthly bills, unusually heavy volumes of junk mail or telemarketing calls, or a reluctance to discuss repeated large payments to “a friend.“ Consumers concerned that an elderly friend or relative is a fraud victim should contact their local consumer protection office or state attorney general.

For more information on NCL’s 2009 Top Ten Scams report, click here.

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About the National Consumers League

Founded in 1899, the National Consumers League is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Its mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.