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The heart of Consumer Sentinel is a one-stop, secure investigative
cybertool and complaint database, on a separate restricted-access secure web site, that
provides hundreds of law enforcement agencies immediate access
to Internet cons, telemarketing scams and other consumer fraud-related complaints. It
gives consumers a way to voice their complaints about fraud to law enforcement officials
worldwide.
Online since 1997, Consumer Sentinel responds to
the fact that sharing information makes law enforcement stronger and more effective.
An international, multi-agency joint project, Consumer Sentinel also enhances cross-border
consumer education and prevention efforts.
The Consumer Sentinel database, maintained by
the Federal Trade Commission, now contains more than
one million consumer fraud complaints that have been filed with federal, state, and local law
enforcement agencies and private organizations.
Law enforcement agents can access Consumer
Sentinel through an encrypted Web site to determine whether a reported scheme is local,
regional, national, or cross-border, and to help spot trends for law enforcement.
Consumer Sentinel offers law enforcers a variety
of tools to facilitate investigations and, if necessary, prosecutions. "Tour Sentinel" provides a behind-the-scenes look at how this
works.
In addition to the complaint database, Sentinel
features include
- data analysis to identify fraud trends
- an index of fraudulent telemarketing sales pitches available
from the National Tape Library,
- alerts about companies under investigation,
- a contact list, and
- how-to information to help agencies coordinate effective joint
action.
Numerous public and private organizations
contribute data to Sentinel. Hundreds of law enforcement organizations, including
more than 75 federal law enforcement organizations, over
500 state and local fraud fighting agencies -
including every state Attorney General in the U.S. - and various Canadian and Australian
law enforcement organizations can access the data.
Join Consumer
Sentinel (Law Enforcers only)
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