FTC Consumer Alert

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

F C EDERAL RADE OMMISSION T FTC OR HE ONSUMER

1-877-FTC-HELP www.ftc.gov

Hoax Targets Elderly African Americans

October 2000

Apply for Newly Approved Slave Reparations! Claim $5,000 in Social Security Reimbursements!

Flyers with these instructions, circulating in many Southern and Midwestern African-American

communities, are attempting to trick people into revealing personal identifying information that could,

in turn, cost them money or damage their credit ratings.

The flyers, distributed in churches or placed on the windshields of parked cars or bulletin boards in

senior centers and nursing homes, claim that African Americans born before 1928 may be eligible for

slave reparations under a so-called ìSlave Reparation Actî and that those born between 1917 and 1926

can apply for Social Security funds they are due because of a ìfixî in the Social Security system.

According to law enforcement officials, the claims are false. They are being made by skilled identity thieves, who are asking people to reveal their name, address, phone number, birthdate and Social

Security number in order to access their credit cards or open accounts under their names without their

permission or knowledge.

If you receive a flyer promoting slave reparations or Social Security reimbursements, the Federal

Trade Commission (FTC) encourages you to report it to your local law enforcement agency or state

Attorney General, the Social Security Administration or the FTC at its toll-free Identity Theft Hotline,

1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338).

Can you minimize your risk of identity theft? The FTC says by managing your personal information wisely, cautiously and with increased sensitivity, you may be able to thwart an identity thief. The

federal agency recommends that you:

ï Never reveal your personal identifying information unless you know exactly who youíre dealing

with and how it will be used.

ï Verify the details with any government agency thatís involved in an offer. You can find the phone

number for every government agency in the blue pages of your telephone book.

ï Read all your bills carefully. Call your creditors to dispute any charge you didnít make or authorize.

ï Order a copy of your credit report every year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies

to verify that your credit information is accurate. (You can reach Equifax at 1-800-685-1111,

www.equifax.com; Experian at 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742), www.experian.com; and Trans

Union at 1-800-916-8800, www.transunion.com.)

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.