Five years since it last asked consumers for their views on fraud, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking public comment on a proposal to conduct a new survey this year.
The FTC has done three previous surveys, the last of which was conducted from November 2011 to February 2012, and the results from the survey were released in April 2013. In a news release, the agency said the surveys examine the extent of fraud and the degree to which certain groups of consumers are more or less likely to become victims. It said they serve to help the agency determine how best to combat fraud.
“The 2011 survey asked about consumers’ experiences with 15 specific and two more general types of fraud during the previous year,” the FTC said in its notice posted in the Federal Register. “Based on the survey results, during 2011, 25.6 million U.S. adults — 10.8 percent of the U.S. adult population — were victims of one or more of the frauds covered by the survey.”
Among the 15 specific frauds included in the survey, the most frequently reported was the purchase of a weight-loss product that the seller falsely represented would allow the user to lose a substantial amount of weight easily or lose the weight without diet or exercise, the Federal Register notice stated.
The FTC said it was seeking comments from the public on: (1) Whether the study is necessary, including whether the information will be practically useful; (2) the accuracy of our burden estimates, including whether the methodology and assumptions used are valid; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information.
The proposal would entail a phone survey over as many as 4,100 adults ages 18 and older, with many of the questions similar to the surveys conducted in 2005 and 2011, the notice stated.
Comments must be received on or before June 13, 2016. They may be made by:
- Writing ‘‘Consumer Fraud Survey 2016: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P105502’’ on your comment and filing the comment online at https:// ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ fraudsurvey2016 by following the instructions on the web-based form.
- Mailing a comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC–5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024.