[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 3, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 5583-5584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2717]



[[Page 5581]]

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Part VIII





The President





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Proclamation 7164--National Consumer Protection Week, 1999
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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 3, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 5583]]

                Proclamation 7164 of January 29, 1999

                
National Consumer Protection Week, 1999

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Consumers are too often the target of unfair, 
                deceptive, or fraudulent practices. Modern advances in 
                telecommunications and marketing technology have 
                dramatically increased both the sophistication and the 
                potential threat of such practices. Perpetrators of 
                fraud can reach consumers across the country through 
                the Internet, on television, the telephone, or by 
                direct mail, misrepresenting themselves as legitimate 
                business people. Because their proposals appear 
                legitimate, these unscrupulous operators frequently 
                succeed in cheating vulnerable consumers out of hard-
                earned dollars.

                One of the most damaging fraudulent practices is credit 
                fraud. Credit fraud--stealing credit cards or credit 
                identities and cheating consumers through deceptive or 
                abusive lending practices--can be difficult to 
                recognize. Fraudulent credit transactions are often 
                complicated and can occur when perpetrators hide or 
                fail to disclose essential information to consumers. By 
                stealing consumers' credit identities, criminals can 
                run up huge debts and ruin their victims' credit 
                records. And credit fraud costs all of us in higher 
                interest rates and fees.

                The best defense we have against credit fraud is 
                education. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the 
                National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators, 
                the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the American 
                Association of Retired Persons, the National Consumers 
                League, the Consumer Federation of America, and the 
                National Association of Attorneys General are working 
                in partnership to inform Americans about the dangers of 
                credit fraud. As part of this effort, the FTC and its 
                partners offer information on-line, by telephone, and 
                in writing to alert consumers about the warning signs 
                of credit fraud and how to protect themselves against 
                it. The FTC, in cooperation with State Attorneys 
                General and the Internal Revenue Service, is also 
                actively prosecuting credit fraud cases that target 
                some of our most vulnerable citizens.

                I encourage all Americans to learn more about credit 
                fraud, to read their credit reports carefully, to 
                protect such personal information as their bank 
                account, credit card, and Social Security numbers, and 
                to know how to recognize the characteristics of 
                fraudulent proposals. By using credit wisely and 
                remaining alert to the possibility of credit fraud, we 
                can better protect the well-being of our families and 
                preserve our financial health and security.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim January 31 through 
                February 6, 1999, as National Consumer Protection Week. 
                I call upon government officials, industry leaders, 
                consumer advocates, and the American people to 
                participate in programs that foster credit literacy and 
                raise public awareness about the dangers of credit 
                fraud and other deceptive and fraudulent practices.

[[Page 5584]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-third.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 99-2717
Filed 2-2-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P