Federal Trade Commission ! Bureau of Consumer Protection ! Office of Consumer and Business Education

FTC Consumer Alert

Border-Line Scams Are The Real Thing

Thousands of Americans are losing money every day to scam artists operating beyond the

boundaries of the United States. In many cases, these international crooks are sitting across the

border in Canada ó just far enough away from U.S. laws and jurisdiction to reduce the chances

that American victims will ever recover their money.

Foreign lottery ticket resales lure Americans to buy phony ìlow-riskî chances in supposed

high-stakes lotteries. Victims of these scams not only lose their money, but also risk violating

federal law, which generally prohibits playing lotteries by phone or mail. Through telemarketing

and print ads, cross-border scam artists also offer advance-fee loans, lucrative sounding investment opportunities, and bogus prize promotions.

Cross-border scams seem to be a growth industry. According to the Federal Trade

Commissionís consumer complaint database, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia rank

fourth, sixth and 20th among states and provinces as a geographic source of fraudulent

telemarketing activity.

Although the FTC and state governments have joined forces to present a united front in the

fight against telephone fraud by sharing information and resources, consumers still are in the

best position to spot ó and stop ó these kinds of scams. Identifying cross-border fraud can be

daunting. The reasons: con artists based in Canada often give a ìmail dropî address in a U.S.

city. In addition, Canada and most Caribbean island nations use telephone area codes that are

integrated with the U.S. phone system and accessible by direct dialing, without long, cumbersome, and obvious foreign ìcountry-codes.î

Hereís how you can stop telephone fraud, whether itís cross-border or cross-town:

Ignore offers to buy tickets in a foreign-based lottery, no matter how tempting they are.

Except for legitimate state lotteries, it is a violation of U.S. law to participate in foreign

lotteries by phone or mail.

Donít fall for a promise. Telephone solicitations that require an up-front fee for advancefee loans, unidentified investment opportunities or prize promotions are against U.S. law.

Keep your credit card and bank account numbers to yourself. Donít give them to anyone

who asks during an unsolicited sales pitch.

If you donít recognize a telephone area code, check it out in your telephone directory.

Keep this list of Canadian and Caribbean area codes near your telephone book for reference.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION TOLL-FREE 1-877-FTC-HELP

www.ftc.gov FOR THE CONSUMER

August 2002

Canada

604 ñ British Columbia

250 ñ British Columbia

403 ñ Alberta

306 ñ Saskatchewan

204 ñ Manitoba

519 ñ Ontario-Windsor/London

807 ñ Ontario-Fort Williams/Thunder Bay

705 ñ Ontario-North Bay/Sault Ste. Marie

905 ñ Ontario-Hamilton/Missisauga

416 ñ Toronto

613 ñ Ottawa/Kingston

819 ñ Quebec-Sherbrooke/Trois-Rivieres

418 ñ Quebec City

514 ñ Montreal

506 ñ New Brunswick

709 ñ Newfoundland

902 ñ Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island

Caribbean

809 ñ Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and other Caribbean islands

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business

practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and

avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit

www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.

The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints

into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal

law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.