Cons and Scams for 2009

As the old year end and the new began, we have an old story of con games. Customers of the Sanford Utility Department are targets of people trying to trick them into giving out your credit-card number. Customers should call Sanford police immediately at 407-688-5199 if they receive an automated call asking for a credit-card payment for a monthly utility bill or late payment. City officials say they should not comply. The city does not contact customers by telephone or the Internet to ask for payments. If you want to make a payment, go to www.sanfordfl.gov or call the city.

As taxpayers go through hard financial time, evil people are waiting to take advantage. America's economic recession has unleashed a plague of schemes, scams and dubious sales tactics targeting people with financial woes. Many schemes involve promises that, for an upfront fee, a company will get people out of a jam with their mortgage or credit-card debt. Many times the company doesn't pay the credits and/or take 85-90% of the money for bills for themselves. People are over run by ads that from come in advertising, direct mail, telemarketing and, increasingly, over the Internet.

On the Florida's state's watch list is the reverse-mortgage business, a fast-growing part of the troubled mortgage industry. Available only to homeowners at least 62 years old, reverse mortgages have been embraced by many seniors as well as the Federal Housing Administration. They enable seniors to borrow from their home equity and receive a steady monthly income until they leave the home or pass away. Regulators are concerned about abuse in the sale of the complicated financial products. Two companies already have been investigated for using potentially misleading marketing promotions that made it sound as if they were acting as agents of the government.

Now there is word from the Florida Bar of another scam involving fraudulent websites using names of real lawyers to catch unwary consumers of legal services. This new scam is a version of the You-Won-The-Sweepstakes-But-Need-to-Send-Us-Money-to-Claim-It routine. The victim receives a call from the scammer with the "good news" and is given the law firm's website URL for the victim to confirm the lawyer's identity. The web address often like ABClaw.com takes the victim to a website that contains some legitimate information about the lawyer and/or law firm, but the phone numbers and addresses are directed to the scammer. This type of scam is particularly nefarious because it uses much of the public's remaining trust of the legal system to hook the victim.

For information or to file a complaint regarding companies pitching services for debt relief, credit repair, mortgage assistance or foreclosure: Call the Florida attorney general's hotline at 1-866-966-7226 and/or go to myfloridalegal.com and click the consumer-protection link.

For information or to file a complaint regarding selling insurance, annuities, investment schemes and other financial products, call the chief financial officer's consumer helpline at 1-866-513-6734 and/or go to myfloridacfo.com.

To find out the status of a credit-counseling service, contact the National Foundation for Credit Counseling at nfcc.org or 1-800-388-2227 and/or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counselors at aiccca.org or 1-866-703-8787.

References:
https://www.floridabar.org/__85256AA9005B9F25.nsf/0/333762D232273D778525750B004A5A73?OpenDocument

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-b3report16_208dec16,0,6825196.story

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/consumer/orl-scams2208dec22,0,7459791.story