BBB Tip of the Week: Consumer rights

National Consumer Protection Week starts today, and an education campaign coordinated by 60 groups seeks to motivate people to make better decisions by helping them learn about their consumer rights.

Some ways to share NCPW 2013 topics include blogging, discussing the information with family and friends, and holding a forum, workshop or seminar to share tools for consumer protection.

The campaign covers the following topics:

• Banking from ATMs, mobile banking to overdraft charges.

• Business resources, from business opportunities to consumer privacy to fraud aimed at small businesses.

• Buying products and services ranging from air travel to buying a car or pet.

• Credit and debit, from advance-fee loans to bankruptcy to college financial aid.

• Health and safety, from anti-aging products to prescription drugs to foodborne illnesses.

• Identity theft, from child identity theft to credit freezes to public Wi-Fi networks.

• International fraud, from foreign money scams to Jamaican telemarketers to scams aimed at immigrants.

• Investing, from brokers to educational programs to trading foreign currency.

• Technology, from cyberbullying to cyberfraud to disposing of an old computer.

• Your Home, from buying, selling and renting to contractors to mortgages.

Resources include brochures, fact sheets, guides and videos from the partner agencies and organizations. You can sign up for email alerts and newsletters from NCPW and its partners. Anyone who is planning a consumer education event can download or order free resources.

NCPW may only be a week long, but you can continue to promote and educate your family, friends, coworkers and community on consumer protection and rights all year long. Visit the National Consumer Protection Week website at www.ncpw.gov.

Erin T. Dodge, BBB Editor