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July 2, 2007 -- The following is a summary of some of the frauds and scams reported to New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s office during June. This is not a comprehensive list, but rather an overview of what has been reported to the Attorney General’s Office since the beginning of the month.

The Usual Suspects: Lottery, Nigerian, and Phishing Scams

Every month brings the same few scams with new variations. These scams are so prevalent because scam artists can use email to reach a great number of consumers with their fraudulent schemes and it is near impossible to catch them when they have succeeded. Consumers notified the Attorney General’s Office of a number of variations of these scams. Most of the Nigerian scams asked for help transferring large amounts of money into the US with a considerable reward or percent of the amount in return. Some of the senders claim to be handling funds left behind a deceased client or relative. One such email uses links to news articles about a plane crash to try to legitimize the situation in which the late client was involved. While the plane crash was real, the email is not.

Lottery scam emails continue to claim that the consumer has won millions in a foreign lottery. One consumer reported an email claiming they had won a lottery from Yahoo! June’s phishing scams have continued the same ploys with different names. Consumers reported emails claiming to be from Hawaii Federal Credit Union and Countrywide Bank. These emails stated that the consumers’ accounts were threatened and they must confirm their information, but any information “confirmed” goes straight to a scam artist.

Overpayment Scams
Scam artists using overpayment schemes have been targeting businesses and people selling items online. One consumer reported a man contacting her via email asking to book rooms at a lodge for five couples. He wanted to send more money than the rooms would cost and have the lodge send the extra amount to a third party. In an overpayment scam, the scam artist tries to get the victim to wire the extra amount of money before it is clear that the credit card number was stolen or the check is counterfeit.

Collections Call
A consumer has reported repeated calls from someone claiming to be from a collections agency. Some of the messages identified the company as “National Enterprise System.” When returning the calls, the consumer was asked for a name and social security number. One of the phone operators made it a point to say that the company was a “legal” collections company. Be wary of calls from people who are persistent about reaching you, but do not know your name. Another warning sign are callers asking for your social security number. As soon as you give away your social security number, your identity can be stolen.

Jury Duty Scam Consumers have reported receiving calls from “jury coordinators” telling them that they skipped out on jury duty and there is now a warrant out for their arrest. When the consumer protests that they never receive a summons, the jury coordinator says there must have been a misunderstanding and they can clear it up. To clear it up, however, the jury coordinator needs the consumer’s social security, birth date, and possibly even a credit card number to pay a small fine. This information is enough for a scam artist to steal their identity and their money.

The Perpetual Scams

In June, the Attorney General's Office was forwarded these perpetual scams:

Nigerian/419 Scams: 12
Phishing Scams: 5
Lottery/Sweepstakes Scams: 8
Overpayment Scams: 3

Consumers may report scams and frauds they experience by calling the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 800-678-1508 or forward suspicious emails to publicinformationoff@ago.state.nm.us.

To see Scam Alerts that are sent out periodically and to view the Scam Alert archive, please log onto http://www.ago.state.nm.us/know/know_scamalerts.htm.

Source: New Mexico Attorney General