Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 87936-87938 [2016-29149]

Download as PDF 87936 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 6, 2016 / Notices also will be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing to the Reserve Bank indicated for that notice or to the offices of the Board of Governors. Comments must be received not later than December 21, 2016. A. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Colette A. Fried, Assistant Vice President) 230 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60690–1414: 1. Patricia Jurgens and Michael Aikman, both of Arthur, Illinois, and Gale Winningham, Hillsborough, California; to retain voting shares of Arthur Bancshares, Inc., and indirectly retain shares of State Bank of Arthur, both in Arthur, Illinois, and thereby join the existing Jurgens Winningham Family Control Group previously approved to control 25 percent or more of the voting shares of Arthur Bancshares, Inc. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, December 1, 2016. Yao-Chin Chao, Assistant Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2016–29193 Filed 12–5–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210–01–P FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request Federal Trade Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The FTC intends to conduct a survey of consumers to advance its understanding of the prevalence of consumer fraud and to allow the FTC to better serve people who experience fraud. The survey will be a follow-up to three previous surveys, the most recent of which was conducted between November 2011 and February 2012. Before gathering this information, the FTC is seeking public comments on its proposed consumer research. The information collection requirements described below are being submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’). DATES: Comments on the proposed information requests must be received on or before January 5, 2017. ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write: ‘‘Consumer Fraud Survey mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:39 Dec 05, 2016 Jkt 241001 2016: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P105502’’ on your comment and file the comment online at https:// ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ fraudsurvey2016 by following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC–5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information should be addressed to Keith B. Anderson, Economist, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail Stop H–238, Washington, DC 20580, Telephone (202) 326–3428. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: On March 31, 2016, the FTC sought comment on the information collection requirements associated with the proposed Fraud Survey (81 FR 18628). Three comments were received.1 Pursuant to the OMB regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501– 3521, the Commission is providing this second opportunity for public comment. All comments should be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or before January 5, 2017. As part of its consumer protection mission, the FTC has brought hundreds of cases targeting perpetrators of consumer fraud and has committed significant resources to educational initiatives designed to protect consumers against such fraud. In order to ensure that its efforts in fighting fraud are as effective as possible, the Commission would like to make certain that it has current data on the prevalence of various types of consumer fraud. The Commission has conducted three previous surveys designed to estimate the prevalence of consumer fraud among U.S. adults. The most recent survey was conducted between November 2011 and February 2012. A report describing the findings of that survey—Consumer Fraud in the United States, 2011: The Third FTC Survey— was released in April 2013 and can be found at https://www.ftc.gov/sites/ default/files/documents/reports/ 1 The comments are available at https:// www.ftc.gov/policy/public-comments/initiative-658. PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 consumer-fraud-united-states-2011third-ftc-survey/130419fraudsurvey_ 0.pdf.2 The 2011 survey asked about consumers’ experiences with 15 specific and two more general types of fraud during the previous year. Among frauds covered by the survey were the purchase of a weight-loss product that did not work as promised, paying money or making a required purchase to obtain a promised prize or lottery winnings that had never been received, and being billed for a buyers’ club membership that a person had not agreed to purchase. Based on the survey results, during 2011, 25.6 million U.S. adults—10.8 percent of the U.S. adult population—were victims of one or more of the frauds covered by the survey. Among the 15 specific frauds included in the survey, the most frequently reported was the purchase of a weight-loss product that the seller falsely represented would allow the user to lose a substantial amount of weight easily or lose the weight without diet or exercise. The survey results suggested that during 2011 5.1 million consumers—2.1 percent of the U.S. adult population—had tried such a product and found that they only lost a little of the weight they had expected to lose or failed to lose any weight at all. Description of the Collection of Information and Proposed Use: The FTC proposes to conduct a telephone survey of 3,700 randomly-selected consumers nationwide age 18 and over—100 in a pretest and 3,600 in the main survey— in order to gather specific information on the incidence of consumer fraud in the general population. As before, in order to obtain a more reliable picture of the experience of demographic groups that the earlier surveys found to be at an elevated risk of becoming victims of consumer fraud—including Hispanics and African Americans—the survey may oversample members of these groups. All information will be collected on a voluntary basis, and information on the identities of participants will not be collected. Subject to OMB approval for the survey, 2 Each survey was conducted under OMB Control Number 3084–0125. The first consumer fraud survey was conducted in May and June of 2003. The results of that survey are reported in ‘‘Consumer Fraud in the United States: An FTC Survey’’ (https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/ documents/reports/consumer-fraud-united-statesftc-survey/040805confraudrpt.pdf). The 2005 survey was conducted in November and December of 2005 and the findings of that survey are reported in ‘‘Consumer Fraud in the United States: The Second FTC Survey,’’ (https://www.ftc.gov/sites/ default/files/documents/reports/consumer-fraudunited-states-second-federal-trade-commissionsurvey-staff-report-federal-trade/fraud.pdf). E:\FR\FM\06DEN1.SGM 06DEN1 mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 6, 2016 / Notices the FTC plans to contract with a consumer research firm to identify consumers and conduct the survey. The results will assist the FTC in determining the incidence of consumer fraud in the general population and whether the type or frequency of consumer fraud is changing. This information will inform the FTC about how best to combat consumer fraud. The FTC’s proposed sample size is similar to that used in the previous surveys. Many of the questions will be similar to the 2005 and 2011 surveys so that the results of the proposed survey can be compared to those from the earlier ones.3 The FTC may choose to conduct another follow-up survey in approximately five years. Estimated hours burden: The FTC will pretest the survey on approximately 100 respondents to ensure that all questions are easily understood. This pretest will take approximately 20 minutes per participant on average and 33 hours as a whole (100 respondents × 20 minutes each.). Answering the final survey will require approximately 15 minutes per respondent on average and 900 hours as a whole (3,600 respondents × 15 minutes each). Additionally, 100 interviews will be conducted with nonrespondents—those who refused to participate or those with whom we did not have contact. These interviews will take approximately 5 minutes each, for a total burden of 8 hours. Thus, cumulative total burden will be approximately 941 hours. Estimated Cost Burden: The cost per respondent should be negligible. Participation is voluntary and will not require start-up, capital, or labor expenditures by respondents. Analysis of Comments Received: As noted above, three comments were received in response to the March 31, 2016 Federal Register Notice. A comment from Douglas M. Brooks, dated June 13, 2016, suggested that the survey should be designed to ‘‘reflect the incidence of fraud in vulnerable populations, including non-English speaking persons and undocumented residents.’’ As in prior surveys, the proposed survey will be conducted in both English and Spanish. In addition, questions are being added to the survey to determine whether the person being interviewed has recently immigrated to the United States. A comment from Vin Dwyer, dated March 26, 2016, asked that the survey be structured to gather information about fraud that is the result of 3 The survey instrument for the 2011 Consumer Fraud Survey is included in the 2013 report as Appendix D. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:39 Dec 05, 2016 Jkt 241001 telemarketing calls to landline phones. As have prior surveys, the proposed survey will collect information about experiences of fraud that are promoted by a wide variety of communication methods, including landline telephone. A comment from William Keep, John Breyault, and Peter Vander Nat (‘‘Keep et al.’’), dated June 11, 2016, requested greater clarity about changes in the data regarding victims of pyramid schemes. The commenters noted that a change was made in the definition of who was counted as being a victim of a pyramid scheme between the first FTC fraud survey, which was conducted in 2003, and the second survey, conducted in 2005. As they noted, this change and a discussion of the impact on the resulting estimates was discussed in the 2007 report that described the findings of the second survey. However, this change was not noted in the subsequent report on the 2011 survey, and the commenters were concerned that someone who looked only at the first and third reports might miss the change. While it seems somewhat unlikely that someone reading any report from the currently proposed survey would simply compare those figures to the first survey, which was conducted more than a dozen years before the proposed one, the Commission will seek to make clear that changes have been made. Keep et al. also point out that a significant percentage of consumers only have cell phones and that it may be necessary to include calls to cell phones in conducting a telephone survey. Indeed, the 2011 survey included cell phones in the sample design. Moreover, in the proposed survey, 70 percent of interview calls will be to consumers using cell phones. Keep et al. also express concern that some researchers who have used the information in the prior surveys have failed to note when differences between survey results are not statistically significant. When the FTC has made such comparisons, it has indicated whether the differences are significant or not and it will endeavor to do so for any future reports. Finally, Keep et al. express concern about the FTC’s discontinuing, after the initial 2003 survey, to collect and report on whether victims of the frauds covered by the surveys have complained about their experiences. In fact, FTC staff have collected data on complaining behavior in each of the later surveys and will do so for the proposed survey. Unfortunately, FTC staff have not had sufficient time to analyze these data since the initial report but hope to do such an analysis in the future. PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 87937 Request for comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before January 5, 2017. Write ‘‘Consumer Fraud Survey 2016: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P105502’’ on your comment. Your comment—including your name and your state—will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at https:// www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals’ home contact information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web site. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment doesn’t include any sensitive personal information, such as anyone’s Social Security number, date of birth, driver’s license number or other state identification number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not include any ‘‘[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information which is . . . privileged or confidential,’’ as discussed in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive information, such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names. If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for confidential treatment, and you must follow the procedure explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept confidential only if the FTC General Counsel grants your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit your comments online, or to send them to the Commission by courier or overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your online comment, you must file it at https:// ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ fraudsurvey2016, by following the instructions on the web-based form. If this Notice appears at https:// www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also E:\FR\FM\06DEN1.SGM 06DEN1 87938 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 6, 2016 / Notices may file a comment through that Web site. If you file your comment on paper, write ‘‘Consumer Fraud Survey 2016: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P105502’’ on your comment and on the envelope, and mail it to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC– 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service. Comments on the information collection requirements subject to review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent by U.S. mail, they should be addressed to Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503. Comments sent to OMB by U.S. postal mail, however, are subject to delays due to heightened security precautions. Thus, comments instead should be sent by facsimile to (202) 395–5806. The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that it receives on or before January 5, 2017. For information on the Commission’s privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/ privacy.htm. David C. Shonka, Acting General Counsel. [FR Doc. 2016–29149 Filed 12–5–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6750–01–P GULF COAST ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION COUNCIL mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES [Docket No. 112062016–1111–07] Amendment to Initial Funded Priorities List Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council. ACTION: Notice of amendment to Initial Funded Priorities List. AGENCY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:39 Dec 05, 2016 Jkt 241001 On November 16, 2016, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council) amended its Initial Funded Priorities List (FPL) to change the Responsible Council Member of the FPL activity entitled ‘‘GOMA Coordination’’ from the State of Alabama to the Department of Commerce. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please send questions by email to john.ettinger@restorethegulf.gov or contact John Ettinger at (504) 444–3522. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SUMMARY: I. Background The Deepwater Horizon oil spill led to passage of the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act), which dedicates 80% of all Clean Water Act administrative and civil penalties related to the oil spill to the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund (Trust Fund). The RESTORE Act also established the Council as an independent federal entity comprised of the governors of five Gulf Coast states and the department heads of six federal agencies. Among other responsibilities, the Council administers a portion of the Trust Fund known as the CouncilSelected Restoration Component in order to ‘‘undertake projects and programs, using the best available science, which would restore and protect the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, coastal wetlands, and economy of the Gulf Coast.’’ Additional information on the Council can be found here: https:// www.restorethegulf.gov. On December 9, 2015, the Council approved an Initial FPL, which includes projects and programs approved for funding under the Council-Selected Restoration Component, along with activities that the Council identified as priorities for potential future funding. The FPL included the project entitled ‘‘GOMA Coordination’’ to support further development of a Monitoring Community of Practice using expertise from existing Gulf of Mexico Alliance Priority Issue Teams. As approved in the FPL, the Responsible Council Member of this activity was the State of Alabama. On November 16, 2016, the Council voted to change the Responsible Council Member of the FPL activity entitled ‘‘GOMA Coordination’’ from the State of Alabama to the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce is a co-sponsor of a closely related FPL activity entitled ‘‘Council PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Monitoring & Assessment Program Development.’’ This proposed amendment would increase administrative efficiency and facilitate project implementation and tracking. No other aspect of this FPL activity will change. Additional information on this project is available in an activity-specific appendix to the FPL, which can be found here: https:// www.restorethegulf.gov. Will D. Spoon, Program Analyst, Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council. [FR Doc. 2016–29238 Filed 12–5–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–58–P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Disease, Disability, and Injury Prevention and Control Special Emphasis Panel (SEP): Initial Review In accordance with Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces a meeting for the initial review of applications in response to Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) PAR15–352, Occupational Safety and Health Training Projects. Times and Dates: 1:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m., EST, January 18, 2016 (Closed). 1:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m., EST, January 19, 2016 (Closed). Place: Teleconference. Status: The meeting will be closed to the public in accordance with provisions set forth in Section 552b(c)(4) and (6), Title 5 U.S.C., and the Determination of the Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, CDC, pursuant to Public Law 92– 463. Matters for Discussion: The meeting will include the initial review, discussion, and evaluation of applications received in response to ‘‘Occupational Safety and Health Training Projects’’, PAR15–352. Contact Person for More Information: Nina L. Turner, Ph.D., Scientific Review Officer, CDC, 1095 Willowdale Road, Mailstop L1055, Morgantown, WV Telephone:(304) 285–6047, NTURNER@ CDC.GOV. The Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, has been delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices pertaining to announcements of E:\FR\FM\06DEN1.SGM 06DEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 6, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87936-87938]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29149]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'').

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The FTC intends to conduct a survey of consumers to advance 
its understanding of the prevalence of consumer fraud and to allow the 
FTC to better serve people who experience fraud. The survey will be a 
follow-up to three previous surveys, the most recent of which was 
conducted between November 2011 and February 2012. Before gathering 
this information, the FTC is seeking public comments on its proposed 
consumer research. The information collection requirements described 
below are being submitted to the Office of Management and Budget 
(``OMB'') for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(``PRA'').

DATES: Comments on the proposed information requests must be received 
on or before January 5, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write: ``Consumer Fraud Survey 
2016: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P105502'' on your comment and 
file the comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fraudsurvey2016 by following the instructions on the web-based form. If 
you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 
20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th 
Street SW., 5th Floor Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be addressed to Keith B. Anderson, Economist, Bureau of 
Economics, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail 
Stop H-238, Washington, DC 20580, Telephone (202) 326-3428.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: On March 31, 2016, the FTC sought comment on the 
information collection requirements associated with the proposed Fraud 
Survey (81 FR 18628). Three comments were received.\1\ Pursuant to the 
OMB regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 
3501-3521, the Commission is providing this second opportunity for 
public comment. All comments should be filed as prescribed in the 
ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or before January 5, 
2017.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The comments are available at https://www.ftc.gov/policy/public-comments/initiative-658.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As part of its consumer protection mission, the FTC has brought 
hundreds of cases targeting perpetrators of consumer fraud and has 
committed significant resources to educational initiatives designed to 
protect consumers against such fraud. In order to ensure that its 
efforts in fighting fraud are as effective as possible, the Commission 
would like to make certain that it has current data on the prevalence 
of various types of consumer fraud.
    The Commission has conducted three previous surveys designed to 
estimate the prevalence of consumer fraud among U.S. adults. The most 
recent survey was conducted between November 2011 and February 2012. A 
report describing the findings of that survey--Consumer Fraud in the 
United States, 2011: The Third FTC Survey--was released in April 2013 
and can be found at https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/consumer-fraud-united-states-2011-third-ftc-survey/130419fraudsurvey_0.pdf.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Each survey was conducted under OMB Control Number 3084-
0125. The first consumer fraud survey was conducted in May and June 
of 2003. The results of that survey are reported in ``Consumer Fraud 
in the United States: An FTC Survey'' (https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/consumer-fraud-united-states-ftc-survey/040805confraudrpt.pdf). The 2005 survey was conducted in 
November and December of 2005 and the findings of that survey are 
reported in ``Consumer Fraud in the United States: The Second FTC 
Survey,'' (https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/consumer-fraud-united-states-second-federal-trade-commission-survey-staff-report-federal-trade/fraud.pdf).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The 2011 survey asked about consumers' experiences with 15 specific 
and two more general types of fraud during the previous year. Among 
frauds covered by the survey were the purchase of a weight-loss product 
that did not work as promised, paying money or making a required 
purchase to obtain a promised prize or lottery winnings that had never 
been received, and being billed for a buyers' club membership that a 
person had not agreed to purchase. Based on the survey results, during 
2011, 25.6 million U.S. adults--10.8 percent of the U.S. adult 
population--were victims of one or more of the frauds covered by the 
survey.
    Among the 15 specific frauds included in the survey, the most 
frequently reported was the purchase of a weight-loss product that the 
seller falsely represented would allow the user to lose a substantial 
amount of weight easily or lose the weight without diet or exercise. 
The survey results suggested that during 2011 5.1 million consumers--
2.1 percent of the U.S. adult population--had tried such a product and 
found that they only lost a little of the weight they had expected to 
lose or failed to lose any weight at all.
    Description of the Collection of Information and Proposed Use: The 
FTC proposes to conduct a telephone survey of 3,700 randomly-selected 
consumers nationwide age 18 and over--100 in a pretest and 3,600 in the 
main survey--in order to gather specific information on the incidence 
of consumer fraud in the general population. As before, in order to 
obtain a more reliable picture of the experience of demographic groups 
that the earlier surveys found to be at an elevated risk of becoming 
victims of consumer fraud--including Hispanics and African Americans--
the survey may oversample members of these groups. All information will 
be collected on a voluntary basis, and information on the identities of 
participants will not be collected. Subject to OMB approval for the 
survey,

[[Page 87937]]

the FTC plans to contract with a consumer research firm to identify 
consumers and conduct the survey. The results will assist the FTC in 
determining the incidence of consumer fraud in the general population 
and whether the type or frequency of consumer fraud is changing. This 
information will inform the FTC about how best to combat consumer 
fraud.
    The FTC's proposed sample size is similar to that used in the 
previous surveys. Many of the questions will be similar to the 2005 and 
2011 surveys so that the results of the proposed survey can be compared 
to those from the earlier ones.\3\ The FTC may choose to conduct 
another follow-up survey in approximately five years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ The survey instrument for the 2011 Consumer Fraud Survey is 
included in the 2013 report as Appendix D.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated hours burden: The FTC will pretest the survey on 
approximately 100 respondents to ensure that all questions are easily 
understood. This pretest will take approximately 20 minutes per 
participant on average and 33 hours as a whole (100 respondents x 20 
minutes each.). Answering the final survey will require approximately 
15 minutes per respondent on average and 900 hours as a whole (3,600 
respondents x 15 minutes each). Additionally, 100 interviews will be 
conducted with non-respondents--those who refused to participate or 
those with whom we did not have contact. These interviews will take 
approximately 5 minutes each, for a total burden of 8 hours. Thus, 
cumulative total burden will be approximately 941 hours.
    Estimated Cost Burden: The cost per respondent should be 
negligible. Participation is voluntary and will not require start-up, 
capital, or labor expenditures by respondents.
    Analysis of Comments Received: As noted above, three comments were 
received in response to the March 31, 2016 Federal Register Notice. A 
comment from Douglas M. Brooks, dated June 13, 2016, suggested that the 
survey should be designed to ``reflect the incidence of fraud in 
vulnerable populations, including non-English speaking persons and 
undocumented residents.'' As in prior surveys, the proposed survey will 
be conducted in both English and Spanish. In addition, questions are 
being added to the survey to determine whether the person being 
interviewed has recently immigrated to the United States.
    A comment from Vin Dwyer, dated March 26, 2016, asked that the 
survey be structured to gather information about fraud that is the 
result of telemarketing calls to landline phones. As have prior 
surveys, the proposed survey will collect information about experiences 
of fraud that are promoted by a wide variety of communication methods, 
including landline telephone.
    A comment from William Keep, John Breyault, and Peter Vander Nat 
(``Keep et al.''), dated June 11, 2016, requested greater clarity about 
changes in the data regarding victims of pyramid schemes. The 
commenters noted that a change was made in the definition of who was 
counted as being a victim of a pyramid scheme between the first FTC 
fraud survey, which was conducted in 2003, and the second survey, 
conducted in 2005. As they noted, this change and a discussion of the 
impact on the resulting estimates was discussed in the 2007 report that 
described the findings of the second survey. However, this change was 
not noted in the subsequent report on the 2011 survey, and the 
commenters were concerned that someone who looked only at the first and 
third reports might miss the change. While it seems somewhat unlikely 
that someone reading any report from the currently proposed survey 
would simply compare those figures to the first survey, which was 
conducted more than a dozen years before the proposed one, the 
Commission will seek to make clear that changes have been made.
    Keep et al. also point out that a significant percentage of 
consumers only have cell phones and that it may be necessary to include 
calls to cell phones in conducting a telephone survey. Indeed, the 2011 
survey included cell phones in the sample design. Moreover, in the 
proposed survey, 70 percent of interview calls will be to consumers 
using cell phones.
    Keep et al. also express concern that some researchers who have 
used the information in the prior surveys have failed to note when 
differences between survey results are not statistically significant. 
When the FTC has made such comparisons, it has indicated whether the 
differences are significant or not and it will endeavor to do so for 
any future reports.
    Finally, Keep et al. express concern about the FTC's discontinuing, 
after the initial 2003 survey, to collect and report on whether victims 
of the frauds covered by the surveys have complained about their 
experiences. In fact, FTC staff have collected data on complaining 
behavior in each of the later surveys and will do so for the proposed 
survey. Unfortunately, FTC staff have not had sufficient time to 
analyze these data since the initial report but hope to do such an 
analysis in the future.
    Request for comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For 
the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or 
before January 5, 2017. Write ``Consumer Fraud Survey 2016: Paperwork 
Comment, FTC File No. P105502'' on your comment. Your comment--
including your name and your state--will be placed on the public record 
of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, on the public 
Commission Web site, at https://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a 
matter of discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home 
contact information from comments before placing them on the Commission 
Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment doesn't include any 
sensitive personal information, such as anyone's Social Security 
number, date of birth, driver's license number or other state 
identification number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, 
financial account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also 
solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include 
any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which is . . . privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information, such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names. If you 
want the Commission to give your comment confidential treatment, you 
must file it in paper form, with a request for confidential treatment, 
and you must follow the procedure explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 
4.9(c). Your comment will be kept confidential only if the FTC General 
Counsel grants your request in accordance with the law and the public 
interest.
    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online, or to send them to the Commission by courier or 
overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fraudsurvey2016, by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If this Notice appears at https://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you 
also

[[Page 87938]]

may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Consumer Fraud Survey 
2016: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P105502'' on your comment and on 
the envelope, and mail it to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite 
CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
J), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Comments on the information collection requirements subject to 
review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent 
by U.S. mail, they should be addressed to Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office 
Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, 
DC 20503. Comments sent to OMB by U.S. postal mail, however, are 
subject to delays due to heightened security precautions. Thus, 
comments instead should be sent by facsimile to (202) 395-5806.
    The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers permit 
the collection of public comments to consider and use in this 
proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and 
responsive public comments that it receives on or before January 5, 
2017. For information on the Commission's privacy policy, including 
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016-29149 Filed 12-5-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
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