De Master Yoda
07-15-2007, 08:49 AM
I hope this is the start of good things to come?
New task force narrows focus on consumer fraud
AMY BALDWIN
abaldwin@charlotteobserver.com
Attention, consumers. There's a new watchdog in town.
The Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont last week announced the creation of the Mecklenburg County Consumer Fraud Task Force, which it helped organize.
The task force, whose other members include the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, will help consumers find information so they are less likely to fall prey to scams and help them report scams to the appropriate agency, said Maryanne Dailey, the BBB's consumer foundation executive director. Having one organized task force will also make it easier for regulatory agencies and businesses to share information and track down scammers, she said.
MoneyWise caught up with Dailey to ask about the task force.
Questions and answers edited for style, clarity and brevity.
Q. Why do we need this consumer fraud task force?
We recognized there were many different agencies -- law enforcement regulatory agencies and nonprofit and for-profit companies -- concerned with consumer fraud. We needed a mechanism that brings us together. I firmly believe in a collaborative approach. That is how you get work done."
Q. What will the task force do?
Our mission is to prevent consumer fraud by providing education and information, to serve as an information source to facilitate reporting of consumer fraud by victims and to empower consumers with information they need to make informed marketplace decisions.
Q. But what does that look like?
It's more than just talking. We do go out and do presentations. We also have a Web site where people can go and click on an agency they feel will be the most helpful to them. They can also go to a scam alert line. The number to call is 704-927-8669. You can listen to the scam message in both English and Spanish. When we determine what the most prominent scam hitting Mecklenburg County might be, the scam alert message will change. It also is going to be archives on the Web site -- www.consumertaskforce.org. The Web site has links to all of our partners as well as direct links to very helpful numbers and Web sites, such as how to remove your name from the preapproved credit offer list.
Q. Who gets scammed the most in Mecklenburg County? Older adults are extremely prone to be being victimized, which is why our Senior Scam Jam has grown in attendance by leaps and bounds -- from 200 people to 1,000 people in five years. It is an annual event, held in May, that is specifically for older adults to listen to consumer fraud presentations by federal, state and local government representatives.
Q. Aren't the people who go to such things or know to call a certain phone number or check the Web less likely to be victims? How do you reach out to people who don't even know they should be aware of scams?
People who think they know it all are people who know they need to know more about foreign lottery or work-at-home scams or identity theft, because you can never know too much. I do two to three presentations a week and it still bears repeating you should never give out personal information on the telephone when you have not initiated the phone contact. I still get daily phone calls from people who tell me they realize they made a mistake because they handed over personal information to someone on the phone.
Q. What are the most popular scams in the area right now? It could be foreign lotteries.
Q. How does that one work?
A person receives a letter reporting they have won a lottery. The letter has a claim number and reports that the money -- say $250,000 -- has been transferred to a clearing institution awaiting release to the winner's bank via certified check or wire transfer. To expedite the process, a check for a minimal amount is enclosed -- say $5,000. The lottery corporation will give a tax amount due -- say $3,000 -- that must be paid by Western Union or MoneyGram. The instructions also state `Please do not attempt to use this check -- the $5,000 -- until you call and speak with the claim agent for further clarification and instructions on claiming your winning.' Victims wire money and later learn there was no big winning and the smaller check was bogus.
Q. How do people fall for that?
Because the check looks so real.
Q. But it doesn't sound real.
But it looks legit. We have people with Ph.D.s who fall for this. People will take the check to the bank and the teller will tell them the check is fraudulent.
New task force narrows focus on consumer fraud
AMY BALDWIN
abaldwin@charlotteobserver.com
Attention, consumers. There's a new watchdog in town.
The Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont last week announced the creation of the Mecklenburg County Consumer Fraud Task Force, which it helped organize.
The task force, whose other members include the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, will help consumers find information so they are less likely to fall prey to scams and help them report scams to the appropriate agency, said Maryanne Dailey, the BBB's consumer foundation executive director. Having one organized task force will also make it easier for regulatory agencies and businesses to share information and track down scammers, she said.
MoneyWise caught up with Dailey to ask about the task force.
Questions and answers edited for style, clarity and brevity.
Q. Why do we need this consumer fraud task force?
We recognized there were many different agencies -- law enforcement regulatory agencies and nonprofit and for-profit companies -- concerned with consumer fraud. We needed a mechanism that brings us together. I firmly believe in a collaborative approach. That is how you get work done."
Q. What will the task force do?
Our mission is to prevent consumer fraud by providing education and information, to serve as an information source to facilitate reporting of consumer fraud by victims and to empower consumers with information they need to make informed marketplace decisions.
Q. But what does that look like?
It's more than just talking. We do go out and do presentations. We also have a Web site where people can go and click on an agency they feel will be the most helpful to them. They can also go to a scam alert line. The number to call is 704-927-8669. You can listen to the scam message in both English and Spanish. When we determine what the most prominent scam hitting Mecklenburg County might be, the scam alert message will change. It also is going to be archives on the Web site -- www.consumertaskforce.org. The Web site has links to all of our partners as well as direct links to very helpful numbers and Web sites, such as how to remove your name from the preapproved credit offer list.
Q. Who gets scammed the most in Mecklenburg County? Older adults are extremely prone to be being victimized, which is why our Senior Scam Jam has grown in attendance by leaps and bounds -- from 200 people to 1,000 people in five years. It is an annual event, held in May, that is specifically for older adults to listen to consumer fraud presentations by federal, state and local government representatives.
Q. Aren't the people who go to such things or know to call a certain phone number or check the Web less likely to be victims? How do you reach out to people who don't even know they should be aware of scams?
People who think they know it all are people who know they need to know more about foreign lottery or work-at-home scams or identity theft, because you can never know too much. I do two to three presentations a week and it still bears repeating you should never give out personal information on the telephone when you have not initiated the phone contact. I still get daily phone calls from people who tell me they realize they made a mistake because they handed over personal information to someone on the phone.
Q. What are the most popular scams in the area right now? It could be foreign lotteries.
Q. How does that one work?
A person receives a letter reporting they have won a lottery. The letter has a claim number and reports that the money -- say $250,000 -- has been transferred to a clearing institution awaiting release to the winner's bank via certified check or wire transfer. To expedite the process, a check for a minimal amount is enclosed -- say $5,000. The lottery corporation will give a tax amount due -- say $3,000 -- that must be paid by Western Union or MoneyGram. The instructions also state `Please do not attempt to use this check -- the $5,000 -- until you call and speak with the claim agent for further clarification and instructions on claiming your winning.' Victims wire money and later learn there was no big winning and the smaller check was bogus.
Q. How do people fall for that?
Because the check looks so real.
Q. But it doesn't sound real.
But it looks legit. We have people with Ph.D.s who fall for this. People will take the check to the bank and the teller will tell them the check is fraudulent.