Alliance Against Fraud in Telemarketing (AAFT)
1701 K Street, N.W.
Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20006
202­835­3323
Fax: 202­835­3323

The alliance, coordinated by the National Consumers League, is an international coalition of public interest groups, trade associations, labor unions, businesses, law enforcement agencies, consumer reporters and consumer protection agencies. AAFT members promote cooperative educational efforts to alert potential victims to the threat of telemarketing fraud and steps consumers can take to protect themselves.

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
Consumer Affairs Section
601 E Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20049
202­434­6030
Fax: 202­434­6466

AARP's Consumer Affairs Section advocates on behalf of mid-life and older consumers, develops and distributes consumer information, and educates the private sector about the specific needs of older consumers. Programs and materials on housing, insurance, funeral practices, eligibility for public benefits, financial security, transportation and consumer protection issues are developed, with special focus on the needs and problems of older consumers.

American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI)
240 Stanley Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
573­882­3817
Fax: 573­884­6571
E-mail: acci@showme.missouri.edu
Contact: Anita B. Metzen, Executive Director

Serving the professional needs of consumer educators, researchers and policymakers, ACCI publications and educational programs foster the production, synthesis and dissemination of information in the consumer interest.

American Council on Science and Health (ACSH)
1995 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10023­5860
212­362­7044
Fax: 212­362­4919

A non-profit public education group, ACSH's goal is to provide up-to-date, sound information on the relationship between health and chemicals, foods, lifestyles and the environment. Booklets and special reports on a variety of topics are available, as is a quarterly magazine, Priorities.

Bankcard Holders of America (BHA)
524 Branch Drive
Salem, VA 24153
540­389­5445
Fax: 540­389­3020

A non-profit organization, BHA assists consumers in saving money on credit, getting out of debt and resolving credit problems. It offers lists of low-rate and secured credit cards, more than 20 guides and brochures on credit topics, including a cost/benefit guide to rebate/frequent flier programs, as well as a newsletter.

Call for Action
5272 River Road
Suite 300
Bethesda, MD 20816
301­657­8260 (network information)
Fax: 301­657­2914
TDD: 301­657­9462

Call for Action assists consumers with marketplace problems. An international non-profit hotline, Call for Action is affiliated with radio and television stations and helps consumers and small businesses through mediation of marketplace disputes. A list of the affiliated radio and television stations is available by contacting the hotline.

Center for Auto Safety (CAS)
2001 S Street, N.W., Suite 410
Washington, DC 20009
202­328­7700

CAS assists consumers with auto-related problems. CAS advocates on behalf of consumers in auto safety and quality, fuel efficiency, emissions and related issues. For advice on specific problems, CAS requests that consumers write; include a brief statement of the problem or question; year, make and model of the vehicle; and a stamped self-addressed envelope.

Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
1875 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 300
Washington, DC 20009
202­332­9110
Fax: 202­265­4954

A non-profit, membership organization, CSPI conducts research, education and advocacy on nutrition, health, food safety and related issues, and publishes the monthly Nutrition Action Healthletter as well as other consumer information materials.

Citizen Action
1730 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
202­775­1580
Fax: 202­296­4054

Citizen Action works on behalf of its 3 million members and 34 state organizations on health care reform, environment, energy, transportation and civil rights issues.

Community Nutrition Institute (CNI)
910 17th Street, N.W., Suite 413
Washington, DC 20006
202­776­0595
Fax: 202­776­0599
E-mail: cni@digex.net

An advocate for programs and services to enable consumers to enjoy a diet that is adequate, safe and healthy, CNI also works to increase citizen participation in the state and Federal policy and administrative processes to achieve these goals. CNI publishes Nutrition Week, a newsletter covering nutrition and food safety issues, as well as related legislative and regulatory actions.

Congress Watch
215 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E.
Washington, DC 20003
202­546­4996
Fax: 202­547­7392
E-mail: congresswatch@citizen.org

An arm of Public Citizen, Congress Watch works for consumer-related legislation, regulation and policies in such areas as trade, health and safety, and campaign financing, and has publications available on the issues with which it deals.

Consumer Action (CA)
116 New Montgomery, Suite 233
San Francisco, CA 94105
415­777­9635 (consumer complaint hotline, 10 a.m.-- 2 p.m., PST)
Fax: 415­777­5267

Consumer Action assists consumers with marketplace problems. An education and advocacy organization specializing in credit, finance and telecommunications issues, Consumer Action offers a multi-lingual consumer complaint hotline, free information on its surveys of banks and long-distance telephone companies, and consumer education materials in as many as eight languages.

Consumer Alert
1001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 1128
Washington, DC 20036
202­467­5809
Fax: 202­467­5814
E-mail: calert@his.com

Consumer Alert is a non-profit, membership organization whose mission is to inform the public about the consumer benefits of competitive enterprise, advancing competition as the best regulator of business. A bimonthly newsletter and other materials are available.

Consumer Federation of America (CFA)
1424 16th Street, N.W., Suite 604
Washington, DC 20036
202­387­6121
Fax: 202­265­7989

Made up of more than 240 organizations representing a membership exceeding 50 million consumers, CFA is a consumer advocacy and education organization. Issues on which it currently represents consumer interests before Congress and Federal regulatory agencies include telephone service, insurance and financial services, product safety, indoor air pollution, health care, product liability and utility rates. It develops and distributes studies of various consumer issues, as well as consumer guides in book and pamphlet form. In addition, CFA publishes several newsletters. The National Insurance Consumer Organization (NICO) has merged with CFA and is now known as CFA Insurance Group.

Consumers for World Trade (CWT)
2000 L Street, N.W., Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
202­785­4835
Fax: 202­416­1734
E-mail: cwt@ids2.idsonline.com

A non-profit organization, CWT supports trade expansion and liberalization to promote economic growth and increase consumer choice and price competition in the marketplace. Various publications are available.

Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. (CU)
101 Truman Avenue
Yonkers, NY 10703­1057
914­378­2000
Fax: 914­378­2900

A non-profit, independent organization, CU researches and tests consumer goods and services and disseminates the results in its monthly magazine, Consumer Reports, as well as in other publications and media.

Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB)
4200 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22203
703­276­0100
Fax: 703­525­8277
E-mail: bbb@bbb.org
Website: www.bbb.org

Sponsored by national companies and the nation's Better Business Bureaus, the Council of Better Business Bureaus provides coordination and leadership to the 162 Better Business Bureaus (BBBs) in the United States (see page 34 for the listing), offers a national advertising review program, dispute resolution services, an advisory service that reports on national charities, consumer information services, and voluntary industry guidelines for advertising and selling products and services.

Families USA Foundation
1334 G Street, N.W., Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
202­628­3030
Fax: 202­347­2417
E-mail: info@familiesusa.org
Website: epn.org/families.html

A national, non-profit membership organization committed to comprehensive reform of health and long­term care, Families USA works to educate and mobilize consumers on health care issues. In addition to its two grassroots advocacy networks--a.s.a.p., a network of health and long-term care reform activists and HealthLink USA, a nationwide health reform computer network for public interest groups--Families USA develops and distributes reports and other materials on health and long-term care issues.

Health Research Group (HRG)
1600 20th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
202­588­1000

A division of Public Citizen, HRG works for protection against unsafe foods, drugs, medical devices and workplaces, and advocates for greater consumer control over personal health decisions. A monthly Health Letter and other publications are available.

National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators (NACAA)
1010 Vermont Avenue, N.W. Suite 514
Washington, DC 20005
202­347­7395
Fax: 202­347­2563

An association of the administrators of local, state and Federal Government consumer protection agencies, NACAA provides training programs, public policy studies and conferences, professional publications and other member services.

National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA)
1133 15th Street, N.W., Suite 550
Washington, DC 20005
202­727­3908
Fax: 202­727­3911

A national organization of 41 utility ratepayer advocate offices in 38 states and the District of Columbia, NASUCA members represent millions of consumers served by investor-owned gas, telephone, electric and water companies before Congress, state regulatory commissions, the courts, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

National Coalition for Consumer Education (NCCE)
295 Main Street, Suite 200
Madison, NJ 07940
201­377­8987
Fax: 201­377­4828

The coalition brings together people and resources from government, business, education, consumer organizations and the media to educate consumers about such important issues as financial management, health and safety, and the environment. The coalition develops and provides educational materials and resources to consumer educators but does not handle requests from individuals.

National Consumers League (NCL)
1701 K Street, N.W.
Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20006
202­835­3323
Fax: 202­835­0747

Founded in 1899, NCL is America's pioneer consumer advocacy organization. The league is a non-profit, membership organization working for health, safety and fairness in the marketplace and workplace. Current principal issue areas include consumer fraud, food and drug safety, fair labor standards, child labor, health care, the environment, financial services and telecommunications. The league develops and distributes consumer education materials and newsletters.

National Foundation for Consumer Credit, Inc. (NFCC)
8611 2nd Avenue, Suite 100
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301­589­5600
Toll free: 800­388­2227
Fax: 301­495­5623

A membership organization for non-profit community organizations which are often called Consumer Credit Counseling Service agencies and are in more than 1,100 locations in the United States and Canada. The agencies educate and counsel individuals and families on credit issues. Consumers are taught to budget and use credit wisely and may be helped to resolve their credit problems. The 800 number provides the location of the nearest agency.

National Fraud Information Center (NFIC)
P.O. Box 65868
Washington, DC 20035
Toll free: 800­876­7060 (9 a.m.--5 p.m.; TDD available)
Fax: 202­835­0767
E-mail: nfic@internetmci.com
Website: www.fraud.org

NFIC assists consumers with recognizing and filing complaints about telemarketing and Internet fraud. A project of the National Consumers League, the center's toll-free hotline provides consumers with information to help them avoid becoming victims of fraud, referral to appropriate law enforcement agencies and professional associations, and assistance in filing complaints. The center also provides professionals involved in consumer fraud prevention and enforcement with telecommunications systems and data links to improve fraud regulation, prevention and law enforcement.

National Institute for Consumer Education (NICE)
207 Rackham Building
College of Education
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
313­487­2292
Fax: 313­487­7153
E-mail: rosella.bannister@emich.edu

A consumer education resource and professional development center for K­12 classroom teachers, business, government, labor and community educators, NICE conducts training programs, develops teaching guides and resource lists, and manages a national clearinghouse of consumer education materials, including videos, software programs, textbooks and curriculum guides.

National Insurance Consumer Organization (NICO)
See Consumer Federation of America (CFA)

Project OPEN (Online Public Education Network)
c/o Interactive Services Association
8403 Colesville Road, Suite 865
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301­495­4955
Fax: 301­495­4959
E-mail: project-open@isa.net

Project OPEN is a joint effort of the National Consumers League (NCL), the Interactive Services Association (ISA), and leading online/Internet service companies. Its primary mission is to help consumers understand how to use online and Internet services in an informed and responsible way. Project OPEN's brochure, "How To Get the Most Out of Going Online," provides basic information about going online and describes tools that are available to help parents and educators screen online content for children. Single copies of the brochure are available free by calling 800­466­OPEN. For information about bulk copies, contact ISA at 301­495­4955.

Public Citizen, Inc.
1600 20th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
202­588­1000

A national, non-profit membership organization representing consumer interests through lobbying, litigation, research and publications, Public Citizen represents consumer interests in Congress, the courts, government agencies and the media. Primary current areas of interest include product liability, health care delivery, safe medical devices and medications, open and ethical government, and safe and sustainable energy use.

Public Voice for Food and Health Policy
1101 14th Street, N.W.
Suite 710
Washington, DC 20005
202­371­1840
Fax: 202­371­1910
E-mail: pvoice@ix.netcom.com
Website: www.publicvoice.org/pvoice.html

A national research, education and advocacy organization, Public Voice works for food and agriculture policies and practices that improve the safety, health and affordability of the food supply and protect the environment. Public Voice develops and distributes consumer information materials on pesticide reduction, nutrition labeling, seafood safety and inner-city food access.

Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business (SOCAP)
801 North Fairfax Street
Suite 404
Alexandria, VA 22314
703­519­3700
Fax: 703­549­4886
E-mail: socap@aol.com

An international professional organization, SOCAP provides training, conferences and publications to encourage and maintain the integrity of business in transactions with consumers; to encourage and promote effective communication and understanding among business, government and consumers; and to define and advance the consumer affairs profession.

U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG)
218 D Street, S.E.
Washington, DC 20003­1900
202­546­9707
202­546­2461
E-mail: pirg@pirg.org
Website: www.pirg.org/pirg

The group is the national lobbying office for state public interest research groups, consumer/environmental advocacy groups active in 33 states that lobby and publish reports on issues, including credit bureau errors; bank fees and services; toy, ATV and product safety; toxic chemicals in art supplies and other consumer products; and recycling, over-packaging and green consumerism. U.S. PIRG does not handle individual consumer complaints directly but measures complaint levels to gauge the need for remedial legislation.