1. CONSUMER AWARENESS: FRAUDULENT AND DECEPTIVE MARKETING PRACTICES Name: Cyran Walker Date: 1/1713 Teacher: Mrs. Sartin Personal Finance

2. Fraudulent and deceptive marketing practices The marketplace is full of deceptive and misleading ways for suppliers to increase demand for a inferior quality or things they do not really need or want. Example: The defendants knew, or by the exercise of reasonable care should have known, that the statements were untrue or misleading.

3. Bait and Switch The bait and switch technique is an insincere offer by a merchant who “baits” the buyer into the store by advertising an exciting bargain. Example: The Federal Trade Commission monitors advertising, and has laws in place that prohibit advertisers from using deceptive advertising and that require them to have proof to back up claims.

4. Referral Sales A referral sale means that the seller promises a money rebate, prize or discount if the buyer can provide names of friends and acquaintances. Example: Imagine your business as an infinite web of relationships. Every one of your business contacts has the potential to connect you to dozens of other contacts. The relationships are out there, but they'll likely remain out of reach unless you actively pursue them. It may never occur to your current contacts to broker an introduction. It's up to you to put the idea in their heads.

5. Fake Sale Probably the most common of all consumer frauds is the fake sale. Example: We just bought a tv last night. We've watched the prices at both Circuit City and best buy for several weeks now. They have consistently been the same price, both moving up and down each week. Maybe they do that on more lesser known models/brands.

6. Lowballing Lowballing is advertising a repair service at an unusually low price to lure customers, and then attemping to persuade consumers that additional services are needed. 25 Selden Lane, way off in the northwest corner of town, dropped its price today to $4.995 million. A few months ago, the seller wanted $7.50 million.

7. Pyramid Schemes Multilevel sales, called pyramid schemes, illegal in many states, in which sellers are promised a lot of money quickly and with little effort for selling a product. In December 2007, the SEC froze the assets of Wealth Pools International. Wealth Pools claimed to be a marketing company selling English and Spanish language DVDs through a global network of sales associates. New participants purchased a set of DVDs which they would then try to resell for profit. However, participants profited by recruiting new sales associates, and not from DVD sales. The scheme impacted as many as 70,000 people in 64 countries and cost participants $132 million in 2007 alone.

8. Pigeon Drop The term pigeon drop refers to any method used by experienced conartists to convince vulnerable people to invest in phony deposits, swampland real estate, or other swindles. Often occurring in a mall or shopping complex parking lot, a well-dressed young woman approaches the selected victim, usually an older woman. The younger woman will claim she has just found a bag, briefcase or envelope and inquire about ownership.

9. Fraudulent Reprensentation Telephone or door-to-door sales made by persons who claim to represent well-know and reputable companies is a recent type of swindle. Frank Kuni, a local resident from the New York area, was arrested and charged with fraudulent representation and falsely represent a social security number, for using a fake identity to get a job within the U.S. Census Bureau and fraudulently using someone else’s social security number.

10. Health and medical product frauds A common type of swindle involves deceptive advertising fro expensive miracle pills creams, and devices to enhance the customer’s health and beauty. When ordering from fake pharmaceutical companies online there is a risk you might have revealed sensitive financial data which could enable fraudsters to steal your identity, so always be vigilant.

11. Infomercials An infomercial is a paid commercial advertisement of a product or service that includes testimonials, product demonstrations, and media presentation of the features of the item being offered for sale. If you have cable or satellite look for a program that says "Paid Programing“.

12. Sources Google Consumer Awareness Section of Textbook