State of New Mexico
Office of Attorney General
Gary K. King

CONSUMER ADVISORY Monday, November 2, 2009

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Contact:   Phil Sisneros    505-827-6792    Lynn Southard   505-222-9048

 

Scams & Frauds…OCTOBER The following is a summary of some of the scams and frauds reported to New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s Office in October, 2009.
Phishing, Nigerian and Lottery :

State consumers continue to report receiving solicitations asking for detailed personal information to claim various prizes such as sweepstakes and lottery winnings.  Requests can include some combination of the following:  full name; address; gender; marital status; occupation; email address; home, cell/fax number; nationality; credit card or social security number.

These scams have come to consumers via email, U.S. mail and by phone (cell, home or business):

	OCTOBER	SEPTEMBER	AUGUST
Phishing	59	72	46
Nigerian	8	11	7
Lottery	10	9	9

Reminder: Consumers should not share personal information, such as their credit report, social security or credit card numbers with anyone they do not know.

Scam:

The AG’s office received notification of an email scam this month meant to pull at the heart strings of the recipient.  The writer, “Karen,” was supposedly mugged at gun point and left without money, credit cards and other valuable items and was seeking assistance.
Hello
I’m sorry I didn’t inform you about my traveling. I am presently in London, United Kingdom and I’m stuck here.
I was mugged on my way to the hotel and my money,credit cards,phone and other valuable things were taken off me at gun point.
I need you to loan me some money , I need to sort out my hotel bills and  get my tickets straightened out .
I would be glad if you can help me and I promise to pay you back Immediately I get back home .
Thanks
Karen

Consumers who receive emails similar to this should forward the email to the AG’s Office at communications@nmag.gov and then delete.  Consumers responding to such unsolicited emails could become victims of identity theft or have their computers infected by a virus.
Secret/Mystery Shopper Scam: Secret/Mystery Shopper email scams continue to plague New Mexico consumers.  The “phishing” scam below was forwarded to communications@nmag.gov by a saavy consumer in October and is an example of a typical Secret/Mystery Shopper scam.
Hello,
>
> Would you like to join our team?Get $1000 To Be a Mystery or Secret
> Shopper In Your Home Area! You can secret shop stores in your area and keep
> the things you buy!
>
> Our Sponsor has limited budget for this secret shopper program! We need you
> to shop at stores like Best Buy, Tesco Stores,Walmart, Kmart, Macy’s, Saks
> 5th Ave,Mc donald and so on and report back to our sponsor your shopping
> experience as to service, product availability, Item,s of interest on sale
> and so on
>
> All You Have To Do Is reply this e mail to see if this opportunity is
> available in your area & initially complete a short member incentive program
> to see if you would qualify to earn the $1000 per week!
>
> Don’t waste your time before our sponsor still has money for this program!
>
> Thanks,
> Brenda Laurel.
> Global Shoppers Inc.   Signs this email is a scam include poor grammar, misspellings and incorrect business names.  Responding to an email such as this could lead to identity theft.

Publications to Assist Consumers:

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division offers educational booklets and pamphlets free of charge to assist consumers in a number of areas. Available publications include Don’t Get Burned: How To Avoid Getting Ripped Off; Identity Theft Prevention and Repair Kit; My Right to Cancel: Door-to-Door Sales and more.  Each publication can be downloaded from the AG’s Web site, http://nmag.gov/Publications/Default.aspx, or picked up from any one of the three offices across the state.

Scam Alerts for Media and Consumers:

The AGO is revamping its listserv for Scam Alerts, Consumer Advisories and Weekly Consumer Notices. To subscribe, log on to: http://www.nmag.gov/Articles/scamalerts.aspx

REMINDERS:
1. Intake hours for walk-in consumer complaints are Monday through Friday 10:00 AM-3:00 PM.  Appointments can be set by calling 1-800-678-1508.
2. Consumer complaint forms can be picked up at all three New Mexico Attorney General’s Offices, Las Cruces, Albuquerque and Santa Fe) as well as online at tp://www.nmag.gov/office/Divisions/CP/complaint.aspx

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Lynn Southard
Deputy Director of Communications
Office of New Mexico Attorney General
Gary K. King
111 Lomas Blvd NW
Suite 300
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102
505 222-9048 office
505 231-4731 cell
Email: lsouthard@nmag.gov