CONSUMER FRAUD

Corporate and consumer fraud is an ever increasing problem. The fraudulent transfer of property, identity theft, and credit card fraud are among the schemes used to rob innocent victims of their money, good names, and just compensation. In addition, businesses such as banks and insurance companies may engage in actions that defraud consumers.

Consumer Fraud
Both state and federal laws protect consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices. Consumer fraud laws also regulate the way that businesses are allowed to advertise, promote, and sell their products and broadly prohibit deception when dealing with consumers. The Federal Trade Commission works to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid fraud. The federal agency publishes countless consumer resources, which provide extremely valuable for consumers. State attorneys general offices and state consumer protection agencies also serve to protect the public from fraud.

While these agencies are responsible for investigating consumer fraud complaints, they do not help individual consumers recover their losses. This is best achieved with the help of a qualified consumer fraud lawyer. The victims of consumer fraud are many and varied. In some instances, businesses and even governmental entities can suffer huge losses (sometimes measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars). In many cases, companies commit unscrupulous practices against countless numbers of consumers. Because individuals are not typically in the financial position to pursue independent legal action, consumer fraud class action lawsuits, can help all consumers aggrieved by a similar act of fraud to obtain compensation for their financial losses.

Every consumer has the legal right to receive truthful and accurate information about the services and products they wish to buy, without being deceived or misled. Making false, misleading, and/or deceptive claims about the quality, price, nature, safety or efficacy of any product or service is illegal.

New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act*
In response to widespread complaints about selling practices that victimized consumers, the New Jersey Legislature passed the Consumer Fraud Act. The Act was designed to be one of the strongest consumer laws in the nation. Under the Act, a plaintiff who successfully proves both an unlawful practice and a resulting "ascertainable loss" is entitled to an award of treble (triple) damages and attorney's fees. Under the Act, "consumer" is defined to include businesses as well as individuals. In order to recover under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, a private plaintiff must also show both an "ascertainable loss" (in other words, it must be quantifiable or measurable) and a causal connection between the consumer fraud and the ascertainable loss. Unlawful practices under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act generally fall within the following categories:

Affirmative acts: This conduct involves any unconscionable commercial practice, deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise or misrepresentation. With respect to an affirmative act, an aggrieved consumer is not required to show any intent to mislead.

Acts of omission: This conduct involves the "knowing concealment, suppression or omission of any material fact." Here, the aggrieved consumer must show that the defendant acted with knowledge, and intent is an essential element of the fraud.

Violation of administrative regulations enacted to interpret the Act itself:
The administrative regulations adopted pursuant to the Act spell out numerous selling or advertising practices in particular areas of consumer sales that are either required or prohibited. Here also an aggrieved consumer does not have to establish an intent to evade or violate the regulatory requirements. The law imposes strict liability upon a defendant once the violation is established.

Levy Phillips & Konigsberg LLP has successfully represented businesses and individuals in this area. We have litigated claims for individual victims of consumer fraud, as well as classes of individuals who have suffered losses from consumer fraud. In addition, we have represented businesses and government entities that have rightful claims under the Consumer Fraud Act.

Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP, has consistently won complex litigation verdicts. The firm offers innovative, aggressive representation for victims of corporate and consumer fraud.

For more information call 212.605.6200 or email

Alan J. Konigsberg      Moshe Maimon


*Click Here to view the full text of the statute