US Federal Trade Commission signs MOU with EFCC, CPC

The United States Federal Trade Commission has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Consumer Protection Council in order to increase cooperation and communication as a way of stamping out cross-border fraud.
The MoU, signed on August 28, 2013, provides for a Joint Implementation Committee to identify concrete areas of collaboration.
It will also establish joint training programmes and provide assistance regarding specific cases and investigations.
Signed by FTC Chairwoman, Edith Ramirez; the Director General of the Consumers Protection Council, Dupe Atoki; and the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, the MoU, according to Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Prof, Adebowale Adefuye, is the first of its kind to include a foreign criminal enforcement authority.
Lamorde, while commending the partnership, said “it will build on our existing collaboration with FTC and with US criminal enforcement authorities.”
According to Ramirez: “Cross-border scammers use fraudulent e-mails and other insidious scams to bilk consumers all over the world, while undermining confidence in legitimate businesses.
“This MoU will help our agencies address this scourge and better protect consumers in both the US and Nigeria.”
It would be recalled that the FTC already has working relationship with the two Nigerian agencies on policy and enforcement matters in various fora, including the African Consumer Protection Dialogue, the International Mass Marketing Fraud Working Group, the London Action Plan in anti-spam network and the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network.