For help if you are an Internet Scam victim, contact:

 

Office of the Attorney General

Consumer Protection Division
200 St. Paul Place, 16^th Floor
Baltimore , MD 21202

Telephone:                (410) 576-6550
Complaint hotline:    (410) 528-8662
(toll-free):                  1-888-743-0023

http://www.oag.state.md.us  

Comments: The Maryland Attorney General’s office can help you decide how to proceed if you feel you are victim of internet fraud. Usually, they recommend that victims of online/internet scams resolve their complaints in the small claims court for their counties. 

The Office of the Attorney General has branch offices in Western Maryland, Southern Maryland and on the Eastern Shore. Contact information for branch offices is available at http://www.oag.state.md.us/Consumer/offices.htm.  

 

National Fraud Information Center

C/o National Consumers League

1701 K Street, NW, Suite 1200

Washington , DC 20006

Telephone:    1-800-876-7060

www.fraud.org

Comments: The National Fraud Information Center will also help consumers with scam complaints, forwarding them to the Federal Trade Commission’s database. The Fraud Information Center also has internet fraud statistics available, and tips on avoiding scams.  

Howard County Office of Consumer Affairs

6751 Colonial Gateway Drive

Columbia MD 21046

Phone: (410) 313-6420  

Link to website

 

Montgomery County Division of Consumer Affairs

100 Maryland Avenue, Suite 330

Rockville , MD 20850

Attn: New Complaint Department

Phone: (240) 777-3636

Link to website

 

Comments: Both Howard and Montgomery County have Consumer Affairs Divisions which accept and try to resolve complaints from county residents or from any consumers who have complaints about businesses in their jurisdictions. They will provide information about local businesses.

Return to MD Consumers' "Complain to a Public Agency or Non-Profit " page

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Further Steps: Consumers may also want to forward their complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC tracks Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into the Consumer Sentinel, a database used by law-enforcement officials on all levels (national, state, and county) in the U.S. and available to international law enforcement agencies as well.  Counselors staff the FTC help line from 9 AM - 8 PM Eastern Time every weekday.

 

Federal Trade Commission

CRC-240

Washington , D.C. 20580

Telephone:       1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) voice

                                1-866-653-4261 TYY

Website:      www.ftc.gov 

As a final step, consumers may want to file their complaint with the IFCC. In partnership, the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center run the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC). Complaints filed with the IFCC help the FBI compile data and make warnings about internet fraud. File complaints online at http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp.