Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
Greenup is a village in Cumberland County, Illinois, along the Embarras River. The population was 1,494 at the 2005 census. It is part of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area. Greenup received its name from National Road surveyor, William C. Greenup, who plotted the town in 1834. William C. Greenup was one of the supervisors hired to oversee construction of the National Road in Illinois, surveying the original alignment from Marshall to Vandalia during the 1830s. The town of Greenup served as the Cumberland County seat from 1843 to 1857.