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: How To Report Scams and Frauds in
How to Report Scams and Frauds in United States
Government agency resources: phone numbers, links to their
websites and contact email addresses
How to report scams, frauds, schemes and crimes in United States
Most scams violate federal laws and regulations, but a few are investigated
by state or local authorities. In general, if a scam uses the national
services, like the US mail postal service, that would be reported to the related
national agency, like the USPS, (see
this page for reporting federal agencies). Scams involving businesses and
scammers operating from a location within a state's borders would often be
reported to a state agency. City, county, regional, and state consumer offices offer a variety of
important services. They might mediate complaints, conduct investigations,
prosecute offenders of consumer laws, license and regulate professional
service providers, provide educational materials and advocate for consumer
rights. To save time, call before sending a written complaint. Ask if the
office handles the type of complaint you have and if complaint forms are
provided. See the United States list of state agencies below:
United States Scam Reporting Agencies and Consumer Protection Offices
State Consumer Protection Offices
- Department of Law and Public Safety
Email:
askconsumeraffairs@lps.state.nj.us
Address: Department of Law and Public
Safety
Division of Consumer Affairs
124 Halsey St.
Newark, NJ
07102
Phone Number: 973-504-6200
Toll-free: 1-800-242-5846 (NJ)
TTY: 973-504-6588
County Consumer Protection Offices
- Union County
Department of Public Safety
Address: Union County Department of Public
Safety
Division of Consumer Affairs
300 North Ave., E
Westfield,
NJ 07090
Phone Number: 908-654-9840
- Bergen County Office of Consumer Protection
Address: Bergen County Office of Consumer Protection
One Bergen County
Plaza, 3rd Floor
Hackensack, NJ 07601-7076
Phone Number: 201-336-6400
- Burlington County Office of Consumer Affairs/Weights & Measures
Email:
consumer@co.burlington.nj.us.
Address: Burlington County Office of
Consumer Affairs/Weights & Measures
PO Box 6000
Mount Holly, NJ
08060-6000
Phone Number: 609-265-5098 (Weights & Measures) 609-265-5054
(Consumer Affairs)
- Cape
May County Consumer Affairs
Email:
consumer@co.cape-may.nj.us.
Address: Cape May County Consumer Affairs
4 Moore Rd., DN 310
Cape
May Court House, NJ 08210-1601
Phone Number: 609-463-6475
- Cumberland County
Department of Consumer Affairs
Address: Cumberland County Department of
Consumer Affairs
788 E. Commerce St.
Bridgeton, NJ 08302
Phone
Number: 856-453-2203
- Essex County Division of Consumer Services
Address: Essex
County Division of Consumer Services
50 S. Clinton St., Suite 3201
East Orange, NJ 07018
Phone Number: 973-395-8350
- Gloucester
County Office of Consumer Affairs and Weights Measures
Address:
Gloucester County Office of Consumer Affairs and Weights Measures
254
County House Rd.
Clarksboro, NJ 08020
Phone Number: 856-384-6855
- Hudson County
Division of Consumer Affairs
(Hudson County Consumer affairs page)
Address: Hudson County Division of Consumer Affairs
583 Newark Ave.
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Phone Number: 201-795-6295 (Hotline)
- Hunterdon County Office of
Consumer Affairs
Address: Hunterdon County Office of Consumer Affairs
PO Box 2900
Flemington, NJ 08822
Phone Number: 908-806-5174
- Mercer County Office of
Consumer Affairs
Address: Mercer County Office of Consumer Affairs
640
S. Broad St.
PO Box 8068
Trenton, NJ 08650-0068
Phone Number:
609-989-6671
- Middlesex
County Consumer Affairs
Email:
consumer@co.middlesex.nj.us.
Address:
Middlesex County Consumer Affairs
711 Jersey Ave.
New Brunswick, NJ
08901
Phone Number: 732-745-3875
- Monmouth County Department of Consumer
Affairs
Email:
consumeraffairs@co.monmouth.nj.us.
Address: Monmouth
County Department of Consumer Affairs
Hall of Records Annex
One E.
Main St.
Freehold, NJ 07728-1255
Phone Number: 732-431-7900
- Ocean County Department
of Consumer Affairs
Email:
ConsumerAffairs@co.ocean.nj.us.
Address:
Ocean County Department of Consumer Affairs
1027 Hooper Ave., Bldg. 2
Toms River, NJ 08754-2191
Phone Number: 732-929-2105
- Passaic
County Department of Consumer Protection/Weights & Measures
Address:
Passaic County Department of Consumer Protection/Weights & Measures
Department of Law
1310 Route 23 N
Wayne, NJ 07470
Phone Number:
973-305-5881 (Consumer Protection) 973-305-5750 (Weights Measures)
- Somerset
County Division of Consumer Protection
Email:
consumerprotection@co.somerset.nj.us.
Address: Somerset County Division of
Consumer Protection
20 Grove St.
PO Box 3000
Somerville, NJ
08876-1262
Phone Number: 908-203-6080
City Consumer Protection Offices
- Union
Consumer Affairs Office
Address: Union Consumer Affairs Office
1976
Morris Ave.
Union, NJ 07083
Phone Number: 908-851-5458
- Nutley Consumer Affairs
Address: Nutley
Consumer Affairs
c/o Department of Public Affairs
149 Chestnut St.
Nutley, NJ 07110
Phone Number: 973-284-4976
- Secaucus Department of Consumer Affairs
(Consumer Affairs Offices)
Address: Secaucus Department of Consumer
Affairs
Municipal Government Center
1203 Patterson Plank Rd.
Secaucus, NJ 07094
Phone Number: 201-330-2008
Banking Authorities
The officials listed in this section
regulate and supervise state-chartered banks. Many of them handle or refer
problems and complaints about other types of financial institutions as well.
Some also answer general questions about banking and consumer credit. If you
are dealing with a federally chartered bank, check Federal Agencies.
- Department of Banking and Insurance
Address:
Department of Banking and Insurance
Consumer Inquiry and Response Center
PO Box 471
Trenton, NJ 08625-0471
Phone Number: 609-292-7272
Toll-free: 1-800-446-7467
Insurance Regulators
Each state has its own laws and regulations for each
type of insurance. The officials listed in this section enforce these laws.
Many of these offices can also provide you with information to help you make
informed insurance buying decisions.
- Department of Banking and Insurance
Address: Department of Banking and
Insurance
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints
PO Box 325
Trenton, NJ
08625
Phone Number: 609-292-7272
Toll-free: 1-800-446-7467
- Department of Banking and
Insurance
Address: Department of Banking and Insurance
Consumer Center
153 Halsey St.
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone Number: 973-648-4713
Toll-free: 1-800-446-7467
Securities Administrators
Each state has its own laws and regulations for securities brokers and
securities - including stocks, mutual funds, commodities, real estate, etc.
The officials and agencies listed in this section enforce these laws and
regulations. Many of these offices can also provide information to help you
make informed investment decisions.
- Department of Law and Public Safety
Email:
Askbureauofsecurities@dca.lps.state.nj.us
Address: Department of Law and
Public Safety
Bureau of Securities
PO Box 47029
Newark, NJ 07101
Phone Number: 973-504-3600
Toll-free: 1-866-446-8378 (NJ)
Utility Commissions
State Utility Commissions regulate services and rates
for gas, electricity and telephones within your state. In some states, the
utility commissions regulate other services such as water, transportation,
and the moving of household goods. Many utility commissions handle consumer
complaints. Sometimes, if a number of complaints are received about the same
utility matter, they will conduct investigations.
- Board of Public Utilities
Address: Board of
Public Utilities
Division of Customer Assistance
44 S. Clinton Ave.
Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone Number: 609-341-9188
Toll-free:
1-800-624-0241 (NJ) 1-800-624-0331 (Cable complaint)
General Precautions and Recommendations- What to do with suspicious emails:
- Only open email or IM attachments that come from a trusted source
and that are expected
- Use an anti-virus/anti-spam package (we recommend Norton 360 or
Norton Internet Security scan all attachments prior to opening.
Click here to see Norton 360 2013 on Amazon.com .
- Delete the messages without opening any attachments
- Do not click on links in emails that come from people you do not
know and trust, even if it looks like it comes from a company you know.
- Keep your anti-virus software up to date
- Keep your operating system up to date with current security patches.
Click here for an article that describes how to do this.
And please let us know about any
suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we
can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
For a comprehensive list
of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.