Credit free number phone repair

The Federal Trade Commission is introducing a toll-free number this month as part of an expanded teleservices program developed to protect consumers from telemarketing scams and other forms of fraud. Inbound call volume is expected to double for the FTC, whose Consumer Response Center analyzes complaints and mails out more than 250 related government publications.

The FTC, which estimates the operation will save consumers $1 billion-plus by the end of FY2002, recently awarded a three-year, $2.6 million call center contract to Biospherics Inc. About 30 phone reps at the Biospherics call center in Beltsville, MD, will assist 18 government reps at the FTC's Washington, DC, phone center.

The new number, 1-877-FTC-HELP, will be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.

The average length of complaint calls is five or six minutes, while requests for information are shorter.

Phone reps at Biospherics initially will be responsible only for answering calls from consumers with complaints, while federal workers will continue to handle mail, e-mail and inbound inquiries, as well as complaints.

Biospherics, which specializes in managing outsourced inbound calls for government agencies, will have access to part of the FTC's database to provide information. Inbound calls and database searches are expected to last a minimum of three minutes, says Karen Levin, a spokesperson for Biospherics.

"As we go forward we expect more and more phone calls will be handled by the contractor," says Hugh Stevenson, the FTC's associate director for planning.

Last year the FTC's in-house call center received over 60,000 consumer calls. Stevenson says the FTC presently receives about 20,000 inbound calls monthly, plus 4,000 letters and 1,200 e-mails. Information reported by consumers is entered in the FTC's database and shared with 190 U.S. and Canadian agencies, all of which can exchange information with the FTC through a secured Web site.

FTC analysts track companies receiving repeat complaints. Stevenson says the FTC avoids interfering with individual complaints, but instead pursues in U.S. district courts the "bad guys" with multiple complaints and patterns of fraudulent activity. Telemarketing fraud and unauthorized charges on telephone bills are the most common complaints. Internet scares have resulted in 80 lawsuits filed by the FTC since 1995. The most common phone scams include U.S. and Canadian cross-border promotions; illegal lotteries; nondelivered merchandise; scholarships and employment scams; bogus credit repair schemes; and scams offering loans requiring paid fees in advance.