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.
Wading River is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, USA, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 6,668. The community of Wading River is on the town line between the Town of Brookhaven and the Town of Riverhead. The name of the hamlet comes from the original Native American name for the area, Pauquaconsuk, meaning "the place where we wade for thick, round-shelled clams". The more simple translation of this descriptive native word, "Wading in the River" or Wading River was adopted by the first settlers.