Every year, military servicemembers, veterans, and their families report losing millions of dollars to fraud and scams — over $470 million in 2023 alone. As trusted leaders on campus, the FTC's Military Consumer initiative offers advice (online and in-print) and resources so you can help your military-connected students, faculty, and staff understand how scams and identity theft work — and where to find the free resources to prevent them.
Join this webinar to learn how scammers target military consumer and how you can help your students protect their personal and financial information and their military benefits.
Speakers
Terri Miller is a Consumer Education Specialist in the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Consumer & Business Education. Terri crafts, implements, and evaluates high-impact public education campaigns to help consumers detect and avoid fraud and scams in the marketplace. She develops partnerships with leaders at the federal, state, and local level to disseminate timely and targeted plain-language practical advice through blogs, webinars, television and radio interviews, social media, and in-person events.
As a former Marine Corps spouse and military education advocate, Terri proudly leads the FTC’s Military Consumer campaign, which supports military servicemembers, veterans, and their families – often in partnership with the Department of Defense, CFPB, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Terri manages MilitaryConsumer.gov, the FTC’s military social media pages, and leads its pinnacle event — Military Consumer Month — every July. Throughout the year, Terri does outreach with military partners like AARP, Military OneSource, and the Wounded Warrior Project on topics like veterans benefits scams, job scams, military bank imposters, and other scams that impact everyday life in the military. Terri’s FTC portfolio also includes a range of consumer issues related to student loan debt relief scams, identity theft, and youth financial literacy. Terri holds a Master’s degrees in Postsecondary Education from Old Dominion University and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication & Media Studies from Bridgewater College.
Sponsors and Partners
Organizer
Federal Trade Commission
Our Mission:
Protecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition through law enforcement, advocacy, research, and education.
Our Vision:
A vibrant economy fueled by fair competition and an empowered, informed public.
Our Strategic Goals:
Protect the public from unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the marketplace
Protect the public from unfair methods of competition in the marketplace and promote fair competition
Advance the FTC’s effectiveness and performance
How the FTC Benefits Consumers
As a consumer or business person, you may be more familiar with the work of the Federal Trade Commission than you think. The FTC deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American.
The FTC is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers’ interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies. FTC’s work is performed by the Bureaus of Consumer Protection, Competition and Economics. That work is aided by the Office of General Counsel and eight regional offices.
History of the FTC
When the FTC was created in 1914, its purpose was to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce as part of the battle to “bust the trusts.” Over the years, Congress passed additional laws giving the agency greater authority to police anticompetitive practices. In 1938, Congress passed a broad prohibition against “unfair and deceptive acts or practices.” Since then, the Commission also has been directed to administer a wide variety of other consumer protection laws, including the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Pay-Per-Call Rule and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In 1975, Congress gave the FTC the authority to adopt industry-wide trade regulation rules.
