CSN contains millions of consumer complaints about scams, identity theft, Do Not Call Registry violations, and more. Click here to obtain more information.
In addition to what the FTC collects, there are 45 dedicated federal, state, private, and non-profit data contributors.
It is free and only available to law enforcement.
CSN is compatible with the latest version of the following major browsers and two previous versions: Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and Safari.
Yes, you can attend a web-based training session or use the self-help options available in the system.
Law enforcement organizations with civil, criminal, or regulatory authority may apply.
A law enforcement organization is an organization or subgroup that has civil or criminal law enforcement power (including initiating civil or criminal law enforcement actions, making arrests, imposing fines or revoking licenses).
The Organization Administrator is the point of contact for your organization's Consumer Sentinel Network account. The Organization Administrator will receive the organization passcode, which individual users will need to enter when they apply for access.
A subgroup is a department within an organization. For example, the detectives' bureau would be a subgroup in a police department and if you only want access for the subgroup then you can apply just for the bureau.
The time it takes to register an organization depends on the completeness of the information in the application and the Federal Trade Commission's validation time to approve the application.
These are the fields of information requested:
Your Name, Email, Job Title and Phone
Organization Name, and optional Subgroup name
Organization Address
Approving Authority Name and Email
Approving Authority Job Title and Phone
Organization Administrator Name and Email
Organization Administrator Job Title and Phone
Organization's static IP addresses
Your organization's Approving Authority is the person with legal authority to sign the Consumer Sentinel Network Confidentiality and Data Security Agreement. This person should have sufficient managerial authority to bind the agency or a subdivision to the Agreement’s various provisions. It’s usually the manager or assistant manager of the division or agency applying for access.
Located here, it says that your organization will adhere to the confidentiality and data security provisions required to access the data. It must be signed by the Approving Authority. You can email customersupport@consumersentinel.gov if you have questions about it.
The Amendments update some definitions, technical items, and clarify some rules. If your agency registered for Sentinel prior to 2023, you will need to agree to the Amendments. When you see the pop-up screen in Sentinel, you’ll be asked to agree to them, like software terms of service. Please note that by clicking Agree, you’re agreeing to abide by the Amendments. Doing so is mandatory to maintain your Sentinel access.
The email domain name is the part of your work email address that appears after the @ sign. Typical domain names include uspis.gov, fbi.gov, usdoj.gov, oag.state.tx.us, etc. To ensure secure CSN access, all users in your organization must have an email address with a domain name that matches the domain name provided by your organization.
Static IP addresses help us identify that you are indeed coming from your organization's Internet address. Please contact your IT department to obtain your static IP addresses, which will be a series of numbers.
In order to provide secure access to the data in CSN, the Federal Trade Commission only allows approved IP addresses to log in. Access to CSN is only possible via your organization's network connection.
IP addresses submitted for whitelisting should be: • Agency’s outbound service such as a proxy or NAT gateway • IP address of remote access service such as a VPN, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) or Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
User Registration
If you are a new user, you will need to first request your organization's passcode. When you write to your Organization Administrator to request your organization's passcode, also ask to be pre-approved to register for a user account. Once you receive the pre-approval email from your Organization Administrator, follow the steps listed in the email to create your user account.
It's a unique passcode for system access. The passcode is sent via email to the Organization Administrator after the organization is approved. Each individual organization user will need the passcode to apply for access.
It takes one business day for a member of an existing organization to receive a user login ID and passcode after submitting a user registration application.
In case you cannot access your primary phone number, you can still log in to CSN using your secondary phone number as long as you have access to it too.
