Consumer protection laws are designed to safeguard purchasers of goods and services against defective products and deceptive, fraudulent business practices. Historically, consumers had very little protection from misleading sales, requiring them to inspect all transactions themselves. However, as modern economies developed, laws slowly evolved to protect consumers from large corporations and practices like adhesion contracts which common law fraud did not address. Consumer protection law is made up of a large patchwork of Federal and state laws governing everything from products like cosmetics and medicine to services like lending practices.

Consumer protection law focuses on guarding against unfair trade practices that harm buyers in the consumer marketplace. It involves statutes and regulations that seek to prevent businesses from using unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices in sales and similar transactions. Consumer protection law can cover the sale and advertising of goods, services, and consumer financial products like credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages. It encompasses issues like false advertising, scams, predatory lending, unfair debt collection, and foreclosure.

The Federal government oversees antitrust law and consumer protection through the Federal Trade Commission which inspects complaints of scams and fraud against businesses. States use a variety of agencies and statutes to enforce consumer protection, expanding on the Federal law in many areas. The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection stops unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent business practices by collecting reports from consumers and conducting investigations, suing companies and people that break the law, developing rules to maintain a fair marketplace, and educating consumers and businesses about their rights and responsibilities.

Consumer protection laws and actions have steadily increased since the 1970s, and more consumer and lawyer awareness may lead to a more active employment of consumer protection laws.