New ICPEN website

The International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN) has launched a new website to coincide with World Consumer Rights Day.

This new, user-friendly site - www.icpen.org - features sections tailored to the needs of consumers, consumer protection professionals and enforcement authority members of ICPEN. It provides consumers with essential information, such as how to avoid scams and how to shop safely online.

This website gives tips on where to look for help and how to lodge a complaint with respect to cross border disputes. ICPEN's global online complaint mechanism is available through this website in seven languages and helps consumers who believe have been a victim of unfair and deceiving practices on the internet.

The new website provides consumer protection authorities with information on the activities of the network and how to participate. These activities include:

• The International Internet Sweep Day, a co-ordinated crackdown on scams with enforcement authorities targeting misleading and fraudulent conduct on the internet and other forms of electronic communication.

• Fraud Prevention Month, a month-long education initiative that aims at informing consumers about fraud and raising awareness of scams through a series of events and activities.

Other features on the website include a calendar of consumer-related events from around the globe, resources on best practice consumer protection and links to other consumer protection forums. An educational project database is also included, with examples from different countries that show how to improve consumer awareness about market risks and their rights.

The ICPEN website provides quick and easy access to information, including where consumers can turn to for help if something goes wrong. For consumer protection authorities on the other hand, the website will assist in the detection, identification and response to illegal conduct affecting consumers across borders.

ICPEN is a co-operative forum of consumer protection authorities that encourages global co-operation aimed at combating fraudulent, deceptive and unfair trading practices affecting consumers worldwide. ICPEN's global reach with members from over 40 economies targets cross-border issues faced by today's consumers.