For Immediate Release

DATE:  November 4, 2009

NYS Consumer Protection Board Begins
Posting Consumer Safety Updates on the State Emergency Management Office’s
NY Alert System
- Agency Engaging New Technologies to
Inform Public -

The NYS Consumer Protection Board (CPB) has
begun posting important consumer protection information on the State Emergency
Management Office’s (SEMO) NY
Alert system (http://www.nyalert.gov/)
to assure that New Yorkers have access  to valuable information about
issues which have the potential to affect their lives. The CPB is one of
the first State Agencies to participate in the NY Alert system, through
which consumers have the choice of receiving direct updates about product
recalls, scams, data breaches and other consumer information.  The
Agency is inviting New Yorkers to sign up.

The NY Alert program was established by SEMO
as part of New York State’s ongoing commitment to provide consumers with
the most up-to-date risk and threat information so they may respond accordingly.
Using this infrastructure,  current information can be communicated
effectively and efficiently through various technologies, including the
Internet, wireless phones, e-mail, Twitter, and other media networks for
those who sign
up for the NY Alert service (https://users.nyalert.gov/).
 Consumers can receive alerts via Twitter
(http://twitter.com/NYSConsumer).
Individuals who are blind or visually impaired can access all CPB’s alerts
via the text-to-speech announcements.

“We are pleased to be able to utilize creative
technologies to provide New Yorkers with the latest information about these
very real issues which, if left unchecked, have the potential to cause
serious harm” said Mindy A. Bockstein, Chairperson and Executive Director
of the CPB. “A critical component of our mission is to raise awareness
about important consumer issues through varied communication mechanisms
to help safeguard consumers.”

The CPB alerts also link recipients to the
broad array of resources available on the Agency’s website, including
the complaint form which connects them to the CPB’s  Consumer Assistance
Unit known for its success in mediating and resolving consumer marketplace
complaints

"NY-ALERT is New York State's premier
alert and notification system," said John R. Gibb, Director of the
New York State Emergency Management Office. "We are pleased that the
Consumer Protection Board has selected this robust system to provide vital
information to consumers across the State."

The CPB’s NY Alerts include information
about:

Product Recalls
Notices of product recalls alerting consumers
to dangerous items continue to be issued by the Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC). As New York’s CPSC representative, the CPB is posting
information about recalled products in its NY Alerts. Consumers can now
sign up to receive the CPB’s alerts about products that have been recently
recalled or have been the subject of a CPSC warning. Recall
information is also posted on the
CPB’s website (http://www.nysconsumer.gov/important_recalls_2009.htm).

Scams
Scammers continue to take advantage of the
fiscal climate to cleverly create new, and reinvent old cons to lure and
trap consumers. In October 2008, the CPB was one of the first government
agencies to issue a “Fiscal
Crisis Watchlist”  (http://www.nysconsumer.gov/pressreleases/2008/oct032008.htm),
which Governor Paterson called “a good ‘heads up’ for all of us as we
deal with financial stress,” and urged  consumers to use caution
in the marketplace to avoid becoming a victim of a scam. Now New Yorkers
can get information about the latest scams by signing up to receive the
CPB’s alerts.

Data Breaches
Data breaches, which involve the unauthorized
access of personal information including Social Security numbers, credit
card and/or bank account numbers with Personal Identification Number (PIN),
and other personal identifiable information, have increased to almost daily
reports.  In fact, the stream of security breaches beginning in February
2005 has left more than 88 million Americans at risk for identity theft,
according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit organization
that monitors security breaches. In September
2009 alone, the CPB received notice of 52 breaches affecting 286,280 New
Yorkers (http://www.nysconsumer.gov/pdf/september_breach_reporting_table.pdf).
 One significant breach, reported to the CPB on September 16, 2009,
involved Express Scripts. That breach, which received national attention,
affects some 237,000 New Yorkers. Consumers can protect themselves from
potential identity theft or other misuse of their personal information
by accessing the CPB’s Data
Breach Alerts via the NY Alert
system, or on the CPB’s website (http://www.nysconsumer.gov/data_breach.htm).

Other Consumer Protection Updates
Consumers can also receive other updates
about additional consumer issues to learn about their rights, and how to
make more informed marketplace decisions via the NY Alert system, or by
logging on to the CPB’s website
(http://www.nysconsumer.gov/)
and checking for the latest postings. In an effort to reach a broader audience,
the CPB has also begun tweeting some of these updates in Spanish.

The CPB, established in 1970 by the New York
State Legislature, is the State’s top consumer watchdog and think tank.
The CPB’s core mission is to protect New Yorkers by publicizing unscrupulous
and questionable business practices and product recalls; conducting investigations
and hearings; enforcing the “Do Not Call” law; researching issues; developing
legislation; creating consumer education programs and materials; responding
to individual marketplace complaints by securing voluntary agreements;
and, representing the interests of consumers before the Public Service
Commission and other State and federal agencies.

- 30 -

To file a consumer complaint with the
NYS Consumer Protection Board (CPB), call our toll-free hotline at 800-697-1220
or visit the CPB’s website at www.nysconsumer.gov.
 In addition to the online complaint form, the website is home to
important consumer safety information.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Deborah Sturm Rausch
Director of Public Information and Media Strategy
New York State Consumer Protection Board
Advocating for and Empowering NY Consumers
Office: (518) 473-9472
E-mail: Deborah.Rausch@consumer.state.ny.us
Fax: (518) 474-2896
Please visit the CPB’s website at www.nysconsumer.gov
Mailing Address: 5 Empire State Plaza,
Suite 2101; Albany New York 12223
P
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