Little Rock — Today the United States Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service join with federal, state and local government agencies and consumer protection organizations to announce the 13th Annual National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), March 6-12, 2011.  This coordinated consumer education campaign encourages individuals across the country to take full advantage of their consumer rights.

This year’s theme – Your Information Destination – highlights resources available to consumers through various channels.  In recognition of NCPW 2011, the Postal Service and its partners are promoting free resources to help people protect their privacy, manage money and debt, avoid identity theft, understand credit and mortgages, and steer clear of frauds and scams. 

"The message of National Consumer Protection Week 2011 is simple: It’s never too early or too late to become a more informed and empowered consumer,” said John Tolliver, Little Rock Postmaster.  “Regardless of your age or financial situation, there are useful lessons to learn about protecting privacy and avoiding scams and fraud schemes. The Postal Service encourages everyone to visit the U.S. Postal Service/Postal Inspection Service website dedicated to fraud education and prevention, www.deliveringtrust.com, and the NCPW website sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission, www.ncpw.gov for tips about making smarter decisions in the marketplace.”

National organizers of this year’s NCPW include AARP, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Federation of America, the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the Federal Citizen’s Information Center, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Association of Attorneys General, the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators, the National Consumers League, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Postal Service.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.