The line is staffed by counselors from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday. It makes the agency more accessible to consumers who want to report a fraud, and it makes their valuable complaint data available to law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Canada. Consumer fraud complaints to the FTC are entered into a database that is available to nearly 200 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Canada. Obviously, the FTC can't intervene in individual disputes, but consumer complaint information is crucial to the enforcement of consumer protection laws. The information that consumers get on a particular issue also lessens the likelihood that they'll be scammed again.
Education is a powerful consumer protection.
Although the Commission cannot resolve individual problems for consumers, it can act against a company if it sees a pattern of possible law violations. The FTC publishes free brochures on many consumer issues.