5 Ways National Consumer Protection Week Empowers Consumers

Are you taking advantage of your consumer rights?

As the 13th annual National Consumer Protection Week kicks into high gear it's a great time to brush up on all the ways you can better protect your privacy, manage your credit and debt, and avoid fraud and scams.

To furnish the knowledge you need to make better-informed decisions NCPW.gov provides five excellent ways to empower you.

*Awareness

From the 6th through the 12th of March a national campaign is devoted to promote consumer protection through various outreach activities at the state, county, and local government levels. All of these activities are focused on empowerment through education and the more you learn about your rights and the dangers facing you regarding scams, fraud, and identity theft the better prepared you will be.

*Education

In addition to raising awareness you can also find valuable information on the NCPW blog. They continually add ongoing discussions on the emerging issues facing consumers today and it can prove to be a helpful resource for getting the support and answers you need. You can also join in discussions via Twitter by using the #ncpw hash tag to learn more about events taking place throughout the country.

*Free Resources

The materials you can order, download, and print are extremely helpful and cover just about every consumer protection topic you can think of. They even have videos as well as newsletters you can subscribe to.

Here are five resource sites they provide:

1) FTC Bulk Order Site

2) FTC Consumer Newsletter

3) FTC Consumer Education Videos

4) Direct Selling Advice for Buyers and Sellers

5) BBB Trust Brief Newsletter

*Events

Another way you can educate yourself is by attending a live event or workshop. These events are being held all across the United States and each one covers a specific topic. To see a listing of all the events that are happening across the country check out the consumer protection events section on the NCPW.gov website.

*Toolkit

Now if you want to be a part of National Consumer Protection Week you can access the NCPW Toolkit and get all the support materials you need such as sample press releases, sample social networking blurbs, event flyers, web buttons and banners.

On a final note if you haven't taken advantage of obtaining your free annual credit report that you are entitled to by law then it's a great place to start. Remember, know your rights as a consumer and do everything you can to protect those rights.