Glossary for Consumer Law Essentials

• consumer: You are a consumer when you buy a product or a service.

• consumer complaint: A report from a consumer providing documentation about a problem with a product or service.

• contract: An agreement between two or more people to do something.

• creditor: Person who is owed an amount of money.

• debt: An amount of money a person may owe.

• debtor: Person who owes money.

• expense: Money spent on something.

• franchise: Authorization granted to an individual or to a group by a company to sell its goods or services.

• goods: Something you buy (same as “purchases” and “product”).

• identity theft: Identity theft happens when someone takes your personal information and uses it without your knowledge or consent.

• income: Money received by you.

• lien: A legal right that someone has on property because they provided some material or service to the property.

• mediator: A mediator is a neutral third party who assists people involved in a disagreement to resolve their differences.

• mystery shoppers: Mystery shopping or a mystery consumer is a tool used externally by market research companies, watchdog organizations, or internally by companies themselves to measure quality of service, compliance with regulation, or to gather specific information about products and services. The establishment being evaluated does not usually know the mystery consumer's identity and purpose. Mystery shoppers perform specific tasks such as purchasing a product, asking questions, registering complaints or behaving in a certain way, and then provide detailed reports or feedback about their experiences.

• phishing: The word phishing comes from the analogy that Internet scammers are using emails to “fish” Internet users’ personal information. Also called "brand spoofing" is the creation of email messages and web pages that are replicas of existing legitimate sites and businesses. These websites and emails are used to trick users into submitting personal, financial, or password data. The emails often ask for information such as credit card numbers, bank account information, social insurance numbers, and passwords that will be used to commit fraud.

• pyramid scheme: Pyramid schemes are frauds that are based on recruiting an ever-increasing number of investors. The initial promoters (those at the peak of the pyramid) recruit investors expected to bring in more investors, who may or may not sell products or distributorships. Recruiting newcomers is more important than selling products.

• scam: (Name) A trick or a fraud. (Verb) Action of obtaining something in a manner not considered ethical or proper.

• Small Claims Court: A court that manages claims for amounts of money up to $25,000.

• smishing: Comes from "SMS phishing" and refers when scammers use cell phone text messages to induce people to divulge their personal information. The hook (the method used to actually capture people's information) in the text message may be a website, but it is now common to see a telephone number that connects to an automated voice response system.

• warranty: A promise made by the company that sells you the item about how long it will last and what it will do.