RISMEDIA, March 13, 2010—I recently joined many other individuals and agencies across the country celebrating National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW). Among the many informative programs and issues that were highlighted was an effort that focused on the many resources the Better Business Bureau (BBB) makes available to educate consumers about spending money wisely and avoiding being scammed by con artists.

Keeping with the theme of this year’s NCPW – Dollars and Sense, which emphasizes consumer education for every stage of life – from grade school to retirement, the BBB offered the following every day tips on how to manage money and be a savvy consumer.

If you need help finding a business you can trust, the BBB Accredited Business Locator can help you find businesses in your area that uphold BBB’s rigorous standards and have made a commitment to support the work of BBB (http://www.bbb.org/us/bbb-accredited-businesses). There are nearly 400,000 BBB accredited businesses across North America including retailers, contractors and online businesses.

If you want to research a business before you buy, the BBB maintains reports on nearly 4 million businesses across North America (www.bbb.org/us/Find-Business-Reviews). A business’s Reliability Report will tell you how many complaints the business has received, how they responded to complaints and their letter-grade rating reflecting BBB’s experience with the business.

If you have a dispute with a business, not only is BBB there to help educate consumers before they buy, it can also lend a hand if you have a dispute with a business. Every year BBB receives hundreds of thousands of complaints from disgruntled consumers and is usually able to help resolve issues quickly and easily.

If you have been cheated by a scammer, your complaint enables BBB to identify trends and warn other consumers and hopefully prevent them from being taken advantage of as well.

Check out all the online resources and tools BBB provides at www.bbb.org. More information and advice also is available on the National Consumer Protection Week website, year-round at www.consumer.gov/ncpw.