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View Shopping and Donating Video How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov Topics Topics + Shopping + For the Home + Health + Funerals + Buying and Owning a Car + Donating to Charity Consumer Alerts Looking for alternatives for your holiday shopping? November 10, 2021 | 2:01PM Amy Hebert You've probably heard: this holiday season, it might be harder to find the gifts you're looking for. So, many of us might be looking for alternatives, like buying gifts locally -- or maybe from online marketplaces or sites you find through your social media accounts, online ads, or by searching... View all Consumer Alerts Get Consumer Alerts * Show/hide Credit, Loans, and Debt menu items Credit, Loans, and Debt Learn about getting and using credit, borrowing money, and managing debt. View Credit, Loans, and Debt Video How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov Topics Topics + Credit and Debt + Loans and Mortgages Consumer Alerts Paying off holiday credit card debt January 29, 2018 | 10:19AM Alesha Hernandez You've opened all your gifts, and now it's time to open those post-holiday credit card statements. If you were a little too jolly with your holiday spending, here are some tips to help you pay down your credit card debt. Start small, then add on. When you use your credit card to buy something, you... View all Consumer Alerts Get Consumer Alerts * Show/hide Jobs and Making Money menu items Jobs and Making Money What to know when you're looking for a job or more education, or considering a money-making opportunity or investment. View Jobs and Making Money Video How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov Topics Topics + Money-Making Opportunities and Investments + Jobs + Education and Training Consumer Alerts Who's affected by income scams? December 14, 2020 | 11:00AM Rhonda Perkins The FTC and its law enforcement partners announced actions against several income scams that conned people out of hundreds of millions of dollars by falsely telling them they could make a lot of money. One of those scams was 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle, which touted a "proven business model" and told... View all Consumer Alerts Get Consumer Alerts * Show/hide Unwanted Calls, Emails, and Texts menu items Unwanted Calls, Emails, and Texts What to do about unwanted calls, emails, and text messages that can be annoying, might be illegal, and are probably scams. View Unwanted Calls, Emails, and Texts Video How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov Topics Topics + Unwanted Calls + Unwanted Emails, Texts, and Mail Consumer Alerts Fake calls from Apple and Amazon support: What you need to know December 3, 2020 | 12:55PM Alvaro Puig Scammers are calling people and using the names of two companies everyone knows, Apple and Amazon, to rip people off. Here's what you need to know about these calls. In one version of the scam, you get a call and a recorded message that says it's Amazon. The message says there's something wrong with... View all Consumer Alerts Get Consumer Alerts * Show/hide Identity Theft and Online Security menu items Identity Theft and Online Security How to protect your personal information and privacy, stay safe online, and help your kids do the same. View Identity Theft and Online Security Video How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov Topics Topics + Identity Theft + Online Privacy and Security + Protecting Kids Online Consumer Alerts How to tell if someone is using your identity February 2, 2022 | 9:42AM Alvaro Puig Taking steps to protect your personal information can help you minimize the risks of identity theft. But what if a thief gets your information anyway? Here are some of the ways thieves might use your stolen information and signs you can look out for. An identity thief could use your information to... 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Home 2. Articles Vea esta pagina en espanol Article How To Stop Junk Mail Tired of having your mailbox crammed with ads and other mail you didn't ask for, like preapproved credit card applications? The good news is that there are ways you can cut down on how much unsolicited mail you get. * How To Get Less Mail From Marketers * How To Stop Credit Card and Insurance Offers How To Get Less Mail From Marketers You can decide what types of mail you do and don't want from marketers. Register at the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) consumer website DMAchoice.org, and choose what catalogs, magazine offers, and other mail you want to get. You'll have to pay a $2 processing fee, and your registration will last for 10 years. The site also offers the option to stop mail from being sent to someone who's deceased or to a dependent in your care. DMAchoice.org also has an Email Preference Service that lets you get less unsolicited commercial email. To learn more about what else you can do about unwanted email, read our article on email spam. Learn more about stopping unwanted calls at ftc.gov/calls. How To Stop Credit Card and Insurance Offers You can decide that you don't want to get prescreened offers of credit and insurance in the mail. If you want to opt out of those offers, you have two choices: * opt out of getting them for five years * opt out of getting them permanently To opt out for five years: Go to optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688). The phone number and website are operated by the major credit bureaus. To opt out permanently: Go to optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) to start the process. But to complete your request, you'll need to sign and return the Permanent Opt-Out Election form you'll get after you've started the process. When you call or visit optoutprescreen.com, they'll ask for your personal information, including your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. Sharing your Social Security number and date of birth is optional, but the website says that giving this information can help them ensure that they can successfully process your request. It says the information you give is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out. Search Terms mail opt out Topics Unwanted Calls, Emails, and Texts Unwanted Emails, Texts, and Mail May 2021 Read Our Privacy Act Statement It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC's computer user records system. 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