Winter is a season for gift-giving for many consumers. The Department of Consumer Affairs is working hard to inform consumers about what they can do to reduce the fraud involved with Christmas purchases. Our Department encourages consumers to remain watchful about where they shop, what they buy, and how they buy.

If your shopping excursions take you to the Internet, you’ll want to read our tips on how to be on guard while you’re online. You may also be interested in our article on bogus shopping sites that are set up to look real, but are actually a scam to steal your credit card information and possibly your identity. The FBI says cyberspace crooks copy popular online shopping sites such as eBay. The practice is called “spoofing.” Do you know how to tell if a Web site is bogus? We have advice from experts.

As you shop, whether at home or in a retail store, you may be drawn to goods, particularly popular electronic items, that come with a manufacturer’s rebate. Handled properly, a rebate can result in considerable savings. In this issue we offer pointers from the Federal Trade Commission and others on how to ensure you get the rebate money you’re entitled to.

We also cover health topics in this issue, including questions you need to ask before you sign up for a health club membership and the risks of hearing loss from personal stereos played too loud for too long. Also in this issue: A new State law is providing additional consumer protection from predatory towing.

We present all this and more to you and your family — along with our best wishes for a safe and joyful Christmas/holiday season — from all of us at the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Carrie Lopez, Director
Department of Consumer Affairs

Download Consumer Connection, Winter 2007

PDF format, 1.4MB, 20Pages.

Your wish is our command! Although the Consumer Connection is an online magazine, printed copies are available upon request. To order copies of this issue and previous issues, call the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Policy & Publications Development Office at (866) 320-8652, or write to us at: 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N-112,
Sacramento, CA 95834.

The Consumer Connection is produced by the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Policy & Publications Development Office.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail us at consumerconnection@dca.ca.gov.

Contents:

3 Director’s Column
4 Shopping in Cyberspace:
Online and On Guard!
6 Beware of spoofing: Bogus, Look-Alike Online Sites
7 Wildfire disaster relief: DCA Springs Into Action to Help
8 Reconsidering Rebates:
Consumer Caution Urged
10 Health Clubs and Spas:
Be Active, Be Well, Be Aware
12 Protecting Yourself From Predatory Towing
14 Hear Today, Hearing Loss Tomorrow:
The Hidden Danger of Personal Stereo Systems
17 Cyber Safe California 2008 Summit
DCA Publications: What’s New!
18 Consumer Conection Survey
19 Outreach Calendar

Shopping in Cyberspace: Online and On GUARD!

Will you be heading for the shopping malls this gift-giving season? Or maybe big-box stores, with their bargain prices are more to your taste. For nearly one in five consumers, however, the Internet is likely to be the place where they shop the most during the holidays, according to a 2006 survey by the Forrester Research Group.

Online shopping, sometimes called e-commerce, may be faster and easier than visiting a retail outlet in person, but it is not without its challenges. Top among them are what marketing calls product fulfillment (getting the item you ordered on time) and returns. Fifteen percent of consumers surveyed last year said they had received orders late in the previous year, while 27 percent said they prefer not to shop online because of the prospect of dealing with returns, according to the Forrester Research survey.

Another area that unfortunately comes into play is fraud. Unscrupulous dealers are a reality in the marketplace and are always looking for new ways to separate unsuspecting consumers from their money. The National Consumers League (NCL) says general merchandise sales (excluding auctions) drew the second-highest number of complaints reported to its Fraud Center in 2006. The top spot in NCL’s Internet Scam Trends went to online auctions. Of the consumers who complained to the NCL, the average loss was $1,197.

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