Miami-Dade Transit, FTC Fight Telemarketing Fraud in Miami

The Federal Trade Commission and the Miami-Dade Transit Authority are teaming up to help consumers in the Dade County area hang up on telephone fraud. To help consumers learn to recognize a telemarketing scam, the Transit Authority will display public service messages in both English and Spanish on 600 city buses and 150 trains, and will distribute 10,000 English and Spanish bookmarks at 21 metro stations.

"Consumers will see these messages all day, whether they're on the way to work or a ball game," said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "Telemarketing fraud costs consumers as much as $40 billion a year. Mass transit is a terrific way to give consumers the information they need to avoid a massive fraud," Bernstein said.

Miami-Dade Transit's public service announcements will direct Miami-area/Florida consumers to the FTC's World Wide Web site at http://www.ftc.gov   (no period). The site provides information to help consumers spot telemarketing scams, and includes material for educators, companies, community organizations and others to use to spread the word about telemarketing fraud.

Copies of the telemarketing materials, as well as news releases and other consumer education material are available from the FTC's web site at http://www.ftc.gov/telemarketing and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-FTC-HELP (202-382-4357); TDD for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. To find out the latest news as it is announced, call the FTC NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710.