Who Can You Complain to at the Federal Level?

A topic-by-topic list of federal agencies that deal with deceptive advertising.

Spot an ad that you think has issues? Want to complain to a federal agency? Here’s a topic-by-topic list of federal agencies that deal with deceptive advertising.

(Note that sometimes more than one agency deals with a certain type of advertisement or label, which can get confusing. When in doubt, it’s safest to complain to all the agencies listed for your particular topic.)

Airline	Alcohol	Cosmetics	Dietary Supplements	Drugs
Financial Institutions	Food	International Companies	Mailed Advertisements	Medical Devices
Organic Claims	Pesticides	Scholarships, Grants, & Students Loans	Spam/E-Commerce	Telecommunications
Tobacco	Everything Else

TOPIC	AGENCY
AIRLINE	U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Aviation Consumer Protection 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, D.C. 20590 Phone: (202) 366-2220 https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/file-consumer-complaint
ALCOHOL (two agencies share jurisdiction over alcohol advertising and labeling)	Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) Market Compliance Office 1310 G Street, NW, Box 12 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 453-2251 E-mail: [email protected] Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
COSMETICS	Labeling: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 10903 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002 Phone: (888) INFO-FDA (463-6332) http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/default.htm Advertising: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS	Labeling: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 10903 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002 Phone: (888) INFO-FDA (463-6332) http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/default.htm Advertising: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
DRUGS
Prescription drugs	U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 10903 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002 Phone: (888) INFO-FDA (463-6332) http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/default.htm
Over-the-counter drugs	Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Credit card companies (two agencies share jurisdiction over credit card advertising, but the FTC does the lion’s share of the work)	Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov Consumer Financial Protection Bureau PO Box 2900 Clinton, IA 52733-2900 Phone: (855) 411-CFPB (2372)/(855) 729-CFPB (2372) https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
Credit unions (two agencies oversee credit ads by credit unions)	National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Office of Inspector General P.O. Box 25705 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: (703) 518-6350/(800) 778-4806 E-mail: [email protected] https://www.ncua.gov/about-ncua/inspector-general/hotline Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
Federal savings associations (two agencies oversee ads by federal savings associations)	Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Customer Assistance Group 1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450 Houston, TX 77010 Phone: (800) 613-6743 http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/complaints/index-file-a-bank-complaint.html Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
Investment companies	U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 100 F Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20549 https://www.sec.gov/tcr For a list of phone numbers, click here.
Mortgage brokers and Services (two agencies oversee ads for mortgage brokers and services)	Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov Consumer Financial Protection Bureau PO Box 2900 Clinton, IA 52733-2900 Phone: (855) 411-CFPB (2372)/(855) 729-CFPB (2372) https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
National banks	Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Customer Assistance Group 1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450 Houston, TX 77010 Phone: (800) 613-6743 http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/complaints/index-file-a-bank-complaint.html
State-charted banks	Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Consumer Response Center 1100 Walnut St., Box #11 Kansas City, MO 64106 Phone: (877) 275-3342 https://ask.fdic.gov/FDICCustomerAssistanceForm/
FOOD
Meat and poultry	Labeling: Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20250-3700 Phone: (888) MPHotline (674-6854) http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Contact_US/index.asp Advertising: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
All food (except meat and poultry)	Labeling: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 10903 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002 Phone: (888) INFO-FDA (463-6332) http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/default.htm Advertising: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES (there are three places you can complain to about ads by international companies)	Econsumer.gov https://econsumer.gov/#crnt Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
MAILED ADVERTISEMENTS (two agencies share jurisdiction over mailed ads)	U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Service Center Attn: Mail Fraud 433 W. Harrison Street, Room 3255 Chicago, IL 60699-6100 Phone: (877) 876-2455 https://www.uspis.gov/report/ Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
MEDICAL DEVICES
Restricted	Labeling and advertising: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 10903 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002 Phone: (888) INFO-FDA (463-6332) http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/default.htm
All medical devices (other than restricted)	Labeling: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 10903 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002 Phone: (888) INFO-FDA (463-6332) http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/default.htm Advertising: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
ORGANIC CLAIMS IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS	NOP Compliance and Enforcement Branch Agricultural Marketing Service United States Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Mail Stop 0268, Room 2648-S Washington, D.C. 20250-0268 Phone: (202) 720-3252 E-mail: [email protected] https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/enforcement/organic/file-complaint
PESTICIDES	Labeling: Environmental Protection Agency Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, 2201A 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460 http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/report-environmental-violations For a list of phone numbers, click here. Advertising: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS & STUDENT LOANS (two agencies share jurisdiction over ads for scholarships, and grants, and three agencies share jurisdiction over ads for student loans)	Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov U.S. Department of Education (ED) Office of Inspector General 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20202-1500 Phone: (800) MISUSED (647-8733) http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/hotline.html Consumer Financial Protection Bureau PO Box 2900 Clinton, IA 52733-2900 Phone: (855) 411-CFPB (2372)/(855) 729-CFPB (2372) http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
SPAM/E-COMMERCE
General (two agencies share jurisdiction over spam ads, though the FTC seems to do most of the work)	Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx
Spam sent to wireless devices, or spam from or regarding communications companies (two agencies share jurisdiction over spam ads sent to cell phones)	Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division 445 12^th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20554 Phone: (888) CALL-FCC (225-5322) https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Fax	Complaints about substance of ad: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov Complaints about not wanting to receive the ad: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division 445 12^th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20554 Phone: (888) CALL-FCC (225-5322) https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
Radio	General: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov Certain ads (i.e., ads for tobacco products, ads that perpetuate a fraud, ads that promote certain lotteries, and obscene, indecent, or profane ads): Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division 445 12^th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20554 Phone: (888) CALL-FCC (225-5322) https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
Telephone/telemarketing	Complaints about substance of ad: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov Complaints about Do-Not-Call Registry: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division 445 12^th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20554 Phone: (888) CALL-FCC (225-5322) https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us Complaints about telemarketing before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division 445 12^th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20554 Phone: (888) CALL-FCC (225-5322) https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
Television	General: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov Certain ads (i.e., ads for tobacco products, ads that perpetuate a fraud, ads that promote certain lotteries, and obscene, indecent, or profane ads): Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division 445 12^th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20554 Phone: (888) CALL-FCC (225-5322) https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
TOBACCO (several agencies oversee tobacco advertising and marketing, though the FDA and FTC seem to do the bulk of the work)	Advertising and labeling: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 10903 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002 Phone: (888) INFO-FDA (463-6332) http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/default.htm Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov Prohibition against lottery features and indecent, immoral picture, print, or representation on packages: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) Market Compliance Office Advertising, Labeling and Formulation Division 1310 G Street, NW, Box 12 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 453-2251/(866) 927-ALFD (2533) E-mail: [email protected] Prohibition against ads on TV or radio: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division 445 12^th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20554 Phone: (888) CALL-FCC (225-5322) https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov
EVERYTHING ELSE (not listed above)	Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20580 Phone: (877) FTC-HELP (382-4357) reportfraud.ftc.gov