Elisabeth Leamy

Elisabeth Leamy is the Consumer Correspondent for ABC News' "Good Morning America" and also contributes consumer stories to World News, Nightline and other ABC programs. Her specialties are stories on how to save money, keep your family safe, and avoid scams and rip-offs. She loves her beat because it's not theoretical -- her stories matter to people and their pocketbooks.

(ABC)

Since joining ABC in 2005, Leamy has reported and investigated a wide range of topics. When the economy faltered in 2008, she looked for signs of how the downturn was impacting real people. One example: a hidden camera investigation into whether the numerous going out of business sales were actually bargains. (They weren't.) Another topic Leamy tackled: states raiding their citizens' unclaimed money funds to balance their own budgets -- even when the money wasn't really unclaimed.

Leamy was the first journalist to question claims made by the popular cold remedy Airborne. Eventually, the company that made it ended up settling with consumers for $24 million. After the Mattel recalls, Leamy tested hundreds of toys for lead and discovered that the Consumer Product Safety Commission's lead testing method sometimes missed the poison. The agency soon switched methods.

Leamy is known for finding visually arresting ways to impart important consumer information. To show which hand washing techniques work best, she put E Coli bacteria on her hands then washed with different products. To demonstrate the dangers of leaving children in cars in the summertime, she locked herself in a hot car and monitored her deteriorating vital signs. For a story on how flooding damages cars, Leamy sank a car in the Baltimore harbor, then analyzed the corrosion.

Before joining "Good Morning America," Leamy was the senior investigative reporter for WTTG-TV Fox 5 in Washington, D.C., from 1997 to 2005. From 1994 to 1997, she worked as a consumer reporter at WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida. Leamy's local news stories over the years resulted in new city laws and prompted congressional inquiries.

Leamy began her career in broadcast journalism in 1992 in Bakersfield, California, as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter. She published her first book, "The Savvy Consumer: How to Avoid Scams and Rip-offs That Cost You Time and Money" in April 2004. Her second book, "SAVE BIG: Cut Your Top 5 Costs and Save Thousands" comes out in January 2010. Instead of harping on small savings like giving up your daily latte, SAVE BIG shows readers how to save tens of thousands on houses, cars, credit, groceries and healthcare.

Leamy was nominated for a Business and Financial Reporting Emmy in 2008 for a two-part World News series in which she infiltrated the internet underworld where identity thieves buy and sell people's financial information. Regionally, Leamy has received 13 Emmy Awards and four Edward R. Murrow Awards.

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and holds a Master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Leamy tries to practice what she preaches, doing the due diligence required to be a savvy consumer and looking for ways to save big. She grew up in the San Francisco area and lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Kris, daughter, Kelsea, and their dog Buddha.