New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman alerted consumers Wednesday about collection and financial scams circulating in the state that tend to target seniors, students and first-generation Americans.
Schneiderman said his office continues to see new versions of similar scams including:
Fake Attorney General Collection ScamsThe latest version involves consumers receiving recorded phone calls from a caller falsely identifying himself as calling from the New York State’s Attorney General’s office. In the calls and voicemails, the consumer is told that money is owed and the issue must be resolved immediately. Other consumers have received phony debt collection notices, often as a PDF attachment to an email, on doctored "New York State Attorney General" letterhead from scam artists posing as an attorney from the office. The letters threaten criminal action and arrest if purported debts aren't paid. Phony Internal Revenue Service Collection Scams The caller in this scam often claims to be an agent or police officer from the IRS calling about a past due tax balance that is owed. The caller will tell the victim that unless the debt is paid immediately, a team of officers will come to the victim’s home that day to arrest the victim or that a warrant already has been issued for their arrest. The caller sometimes threatens jail time, deportation, driver’s license revocation or will call repeatedly leaving “ rgent" messages that at times are threatening and insulting, the AG’s office reports. The scammer might request that the "IRS Tax Warrant" be paid with a Green Dot Card Money Card, PayPal Prepaid MasterCard or Western Union MoneyGram. These scammers often use caller ID spoofing so that the victim’s caller ID box reads "Internal Revenue Service" or displays the phone number of the IRS. Sometimes the scammers already possess sensitive personal information such as Social Security and driver’s license numbers. In other cases, the scammers will ask victims for personal information such as a Social Security number, which they’ll ultimately use to commit identity theft. Phony Jury Duty Scams In the jury duty scam, consumers receive telephone calls from a caller falsely identifying himself as an officer of the court. The scammer will claim that there is a fine for failing to show up for jury duty and that unless the fine is paid immediately, the police will be sent to the victim's home to make an arrest. The scammer will then request an immediate credit card payment as well as identifying personal information.
