FTC Outlines Ways to Avoid Scams, Asks for Translation Collaboration

Washington, DC - Scammers follow headlines and con artists are always ready to take advantage of people's concerns and try to profit from them by offering bogus services, especially during a natural disaster, economic downturn, or an announcement of changes in laws which will affect millions. Immigrants are particularly vulnerable to schemes that promise them help in becoming US citizens and other types of assistance.
Kathleen Daffan, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection, spoke to India America Today to caution immigrants and to arm them with resources to deal with managing money, protecting personal information, and avoiding scams.
In her answers, she also invited Indian American and other organizations to join hands with the FTC to translate the available material into different Indian languages, as the FTC has recently created a new toolkit with free educational and legal resources for those who work with immigrant communities. Topics include immigration scams, mortgages, debt collection, job and business opportunity scams, and money wiring schemes. This toolkit and other resources are available at consumer.gov (in Spanish, consumidor.gov), the FTC’s sites for consumers of varying degrees of literacy.
Q. What scams do you see that target the immigrant community?
Unfortunately, we’ve seen a wide range of scams aimed at immigrant communities, everything from immigration services fraud to the mortgage and debt collection scams that have also targeted others likely to suffer from the economic downturn. We’ve sued companies cheating immigrant communities with deceptive prepaid phone card ads and issued guidance about sending money overseas. We’ve also seen people trying to hock phony wares to immigrant communities, either over the phone or in person; these can include everything from business opportunities to health insurance to English language training products.
Q. What are the worst scams you see against immigrants?
One type of fraud that can carry enormous consequences for immigrants occurs when unauthorized immigration service providers take consumers’ money and either do nothing for them or make their immigration situation even worse. For immigrants, this type of fraud is about more than money; it can mean the difference between a legal status and the rejection or denial of benefits.
Q. What should someone do if they see a scam?
Please consider filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. While the agency cannot individually represent consumers to resolve their complaints, we use consumer complaints every day to help stop frauds. To file a complaint, just go to ftc.gov/complaint, click on the link to the “Federal Trade Commission Complaint Assistant,” and answer the questions. Or call 1-877-FTC-HELP.
Q. Aren't people anxious about reporting immigration-related scams to the government?
The FTC is not an immigration enforcement agency, but we certainly understand some individuals’ reluctance to release certain information to any part of the federal government. To make filing a complaint easier, consumers may file complaints listing as much (or as little) information as they choose. Also, the FTC strongly encourages organizations that serve immigrant communities to file complaints on behalf of their clients. This information helps law enforcement agencies identify patterns of complaints and gives us the ability to reach out to an expert to learn more about the problem.
Q. Where can people go to learn more about scams against immigrants?
To help fight fraud in immigrant communities, we have created a toolkit with resources for advocates and individuals, alike: consumer.gov/immigranthelp. Please pass it along to anyone you know who might find it helpful.
Q. Do you have resources available in languages besides English?
Almost all of our materials are available in English and Spanish, and we have some publications also available in Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. Our publications are not copyrighted; thus, organizations are also more than welcome to translate the resources and distribute them among their own networks with their own branding. We have limited resources for translation and are therefore looking to partner with those who are interested in these materials and can help us make them available in other languages.

: springhead
http://www.indiaamericatoday.com/article/ftc-outlines-ways-avoid-scams-asks-translation-collaboration

Obama Announces Steps to Advance Surveillance Debate

Washington, DC - President Barack Obama recently announced four steps that he said would move the public debate forward about classified government surveillance programs that gather data about the telephone records of Americans and others.

During a press conference at the White House, Obama said it is right to ask questions about surveillance, particularly as technology reshapes every aspect of people’s lives.

“I'm also mindful of how these issues are viewed overseas …,” he said. “In other words, it's not enough for me as president to have confidence in these programs. The American people need to have confidence in them as well.”

Over the past few weeks the president said he has consulted with members of Congress, asked the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to review tensions between counterterrorism efforts and American values, and directed the national security team to be more transparent and pursue reforms of laws and practices.

“Today,” Obama said, “I'd like to discuss four specific steps -- not all inclusive, but some specific steps that we're going to be taking very shortly to move the debate forward.”

These include the following --

1. The president will work with Congress to pursue reforms to Section 215 of the 2001 Patriot Act, the program that authorizes collects the collection telephone records.

Obama called the program an important tool in the effort to disrupt terrorist plots that does not allow the government to listen to phone calls without a warrant.

“But given the scale of this program,” he said, “I understand the concerns of those who would worry that it could be subject to abuse.”

After speaking with members of Congress and civil libertarians, Obama said he thinks there are steps that can be taken to give Americans more confidence that there are safeguards against abuse.

“For instance,” he said, “we can take steps to put in place greater oversight, greater transparency and constraints on the use of this authority.”

2. The president will work with Congress to improve public confidence in oversight conducted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, or FISC.

Congress created this court to provide judicial review of certain intelligence activities so a federal judge must find that federal actions are consistent with the Constitution.

But to build greater confidence, Obama said, “I think we should consider some additional changes to the FISC. One of the concerns that people raise is that a judge reviewing a request from the government to conduct programmatic surveillance only hears one side of the story -- may tilt it too far in favor of security, may not pay enough attention to liberty.”

The president said looking at such issues from the perspectives of security and privacy might provide greater assurances to the public.

Specifically, he said, “we can take steps to make sure civil liberties, concerns, have an independent voice in appropriate cases by ensuring the government's position is challenged by an adversary.”

3. The president said the government can and must be more transparent.

The president said he’s directed the intelligence community to make public as much information about these programs as possible.

“We've already declassified unprecedented information about the [National Security Agency] but we can go further,” he said. “So at my direction the Department of Justice will make public the legal rationale for the government's collection activities under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.”

The NSA is taking steps to put in place a full-time civil liberties and privacy officer, Obama said, and release information that details its mission, authorities and oversight.

The intelligence community is also creating a website that will serve as a hub for further transparency, the president said.

“This will give Americans and the world the ability to learn more about what our intelligence community does and what it doesn't do, how it carries out its mission and why it does so,” Obama said.

4. The president is forming a high-level group of outside experts to review all intelligence and communications technologies.

“We need new thinking for a new era,” Obama said. “We now have to unravel terrorist plots by finding a needle in a haystack of global telecommunications. And meanwhile, technology has given governments, including our own, unprecedented capability to monitor communications.”

The president is tasking the independent group to review US capabilities, particularly surveillance technologies.

“They’ll consider how we can maintain the trust of the people, how we can make sure that there absolutely is no abuse in terms of how these surveillance technologies are used, ask how surveillance impacts our foreign policy, particularly in an age when more and more information is becoming public,” Obama said.

The group will provide an interim report in 60 days and a final report by year’s end, he said, “so we can move forward with a better understanding of how these programs impact our security, our privacy and our foreign policy.”

To others around the world, Obama said he wants to make clear that America is not interested in spying on ordinary people.

“Our intelligence is focused above all on finding the information that's necessary to protect our people -- and in many cases, protect our allies,” he said.

“It's true, we have significant capabilities,” he added. “What's also true is we show a restraint that many governments around the world don't even think to do …. That includes, by the way, some of America's most vocal critics.”

This is how the United States will resolve its differences, the president said. “Through vigorous public debate guided by our constitution, with reverence for our history as a nation of laws, and with respect for the facts.”

: springhead

http://www.indiaamericatoday.com/article/obama-announces-steps-advance-surveillance-debate

Afghan War Entering the Final Chapter, Obama Tells Marines

Washington, DC - The commander in chief told Marines at Camp Pendleton, California, today (July 7) that the war in Afghanistan has entered its final chapter. President Barack Obama thanked the Marines and their families for the burdens they have carried since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“I’m here because we recently marked another milestone in this war,” he said during a speech in a hangar. “As of this past June, for the first time, Afghan forces have taken the lead for security across their entire country. Instead of leading the fight, our troops now have a different mission, which is to train and advise and assist Afghan forces.”

This shift in mission signals the beginning of the final chapter in the fight in Afghanistan, Obama said. More troops will be coming home –60,000 Americans are in Afghanistan now, and that number will drop to 34,000 by the winter.

“By the end of next year, in just 17 months, the transition will be complete -- Afghans will take full responsibility for their security, and our war in Afghanistan will be over,” the president said.

The president, who met with wounded warriors and Gold Star families before the speech, remembered the 326 fallen heroes from Camp Pendleton. “We honor all of them,” he said. “Every single one.”

Still, the war is continuing, and the president did not sugarcoat the way forward. “I know some of you are getting ready to deploy in the months to come. It is a hard fight,” he said. “Our Afghan partners have stepped up. They are bearing a bigger brunt of the firepower. They are taking on a lot more casualties. They are in the lead. But it is still tough, and we are still needed.”

This generation of service members has made progress, the president said, and he listed some of it. “Because of you, Osama bin Laden is no more,” he said. “Because of you, al-Qaida’s top ranks have been hammered. The core of al-Qaida, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is on the way to defeat.”

Because these Marines and thousands of others went to Afghanistan, millions of Afghans have a chance at a normal, peaceful life, the president said. And this will be a lasting accomplishment, he added.

“We are going to make sure that Afghanistan is never again a source of attacks against our country,” he said. “That happened because of you.”

But the end of the war in Afghanistan does not mean the end of threats to America. Al-Qaida affiliates still threaten American embassies, consulates and interests overseas. “We have got to take these threats seriously, and do all we can to confront them,” Obama said. “We have been reminded of this again in recent days.”

The president vowed that the United States will never retreat from the world. “We do not get terrorized,” he said. “We’re going to keep standing up to our enemies.”

Obama said that with allies, the United States will remain the greatest force for freedom the world has ever known, and this means a strong military.

With the end of the war, the military will shrink, the president said, but America cannot allow a hollow force to develop. “We have got – right now – the best-led, best-trained, best-equipped military in human history,” he said. “And as long as I am commander in chief, I will keep it that way.”

The president called on Congress to work with him to undo the sequester spending cuts and find a way to reduce military spending that doesn’t cripple the services at a very dangerous time.

: springhead

http://www.indiaamericatoday.com/article/afghan-war-entering-final-chapter-obama-tells-marines

US Targets Pakistan-Based Terrorist Bahawal Khan with Sanctions

Washington, DC - The United States on Tuesday slapped sanctions on Pakistan-based terrorist leader Bahawal Khan, designating him a "Global Terrorist," for being involved in terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Khan, also known as Salahuddin Ayubi, has led the Commander Nazir Group (CNG), which is based in the lawless tribal region of Pakistan, since January 2013, when Mullah Nazir was killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan.
Designating Khan as "a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT)," the US State Department in its statement said, "As a result of the designation, all property subject to US jurisdiction in which Khan has any interest is blocked and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Khan."
The US statement noted that Khan previously served as a sub-commander for CNG in South Waziristan and also fought with the Taliban since the late 1990s. "Khan and CNG have vowed to continue the group’s activities, including supporting al-Qaida and conducting attacks in Afghanistan," the statement added.
While the group has been behind numerous attacks against international forces in Afghanistan, it has been known to attack targets in Pakistan too, the State Department said. The CNG claimed responsibility for a March 2008 vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack in front of an army brigade headquarters at Zari Noor in South Waziristan that killed five Pakistani soldiers and injured 11 more. In May 2011, the group broke a ceasefire and attacked a Pakistan Army camp at Wana in the tribal belt with missiles and rockets.
Earlier, on February 26, 2013, the Department of State designated CNG and sub-commander Malang Wazir as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

: springhead
http://www.indiaamericatoday.com/article/us-targets-pakistan-based-terrorist-bahawal-khan-sanctions

US Hopes Indo-Pak Talks Continue, BJP Urges Otherwise

Washington, DC - The United States on Tuesday (August 6) expressed hope that India would continue ongoing peace efforts towards normalization of relations with Pakistan, in spite of Indian government reports about alleged firing from the Pakistani side and the deaths of five of its soldiers in the disputed region of Kashmir.
Asked about the Indian claims of the deaths of five of its soldiers, Jen Paski, the US State Department spokesperson, told journalists at the daily briefing, "We are aware of these unconfirmed reports and are concerned about any violence along the Line of Control."
Psaki noted that Washington’s policy on the longstanding Kashmir dispute has not changed, saying, “We still believe that the pace, scope, and character of India and Pakistan’s dialogue on Kashmir is for those two countries to determine."
“We hope that India and Pakistan will continue the steps they have recently to improve their bilateral relations,” added Psaki.
In Delhi, however, the main Indian opposition party Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) suggested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should not hold bilateral talks with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during their forthcoming visit to the US for the United Nations General Assembly meeting.
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha condemned the border attack, telling journalists that, "there should be no talks with Pakistan until they keep the assurance given to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on January 6, 2004. There should be no talks at any level, especially at the level of the Prime Minister."
"Pakistan has been openly flouting the ceasefire agreement and now even the fig leaf has gone. Why does Indian government not take this up with Pakistan through diplomatic channels?" Sinha asked.

: springhead
http://www.indiaamericatoday.com/article/us-hopes-indo-pak-talks-continue-bjp-urges-otherwise