Consumer Assistance
The Attorney General enforces state and federal consumer protection laws, keeping Virginians safe from things like identity theft, consumer fraud and telemarketing scams, and enforces antitrust laws that protect businesses and consumers from behavior that defeats healthy competition. The Attorney General also provides consumer alerts and educational materials that are designed to increase consumer awareness of scams, and help our citizens, particularly our seniors, protect themselves. When there is a pattern of deception or other wrongdoing, the Attorney General is authorized to take action to stop the illegal conduct, and, where appropriate, seek refunds for affected consumers.
Individual complaints play an important role in notifying the Attorney General about possibly deceptive or otherwise illegal practices taking place in Virginia, which can lead to enforcement actions or legislative initiatives; however, the Attorney General’s office is not the central clearinghouse for consumer complaints in Virginia. The Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs (“OCA”), one of our client agencies within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, serves this role. As a result, most consumer complaints we receive are referred initially to other state and federal agencies for investigation and/or dispute resolution handling (e.g., mediation). To speed up the process, consumers may wish to contact those agencies directly. For information on where particular types of complaints should be filed, please click on the “Where to File Complaints” and “Frequently Asked Questions” links below for agency contact and other useful information.
The Attorney General encourages you to protect yourself by becoming educated about scams and fraud and learning about helpful resources and agencies to contact should you need assistance. One specific way to protect yourself is by checking your credit at least every year. Federal law requires that each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) provide one free credit report per year to individuals upon request. There is a link to the AnnualCreditReport website included in the list below. This web site is the ONLY secure online credit reporting service recommended by the Federal Trade Commission, and the only one sponsored by all three nationwide credit reporting companies. Click on the links below to obtain information that will make you a better informed and smarter consumer!
Helpful Consumer Links