STORY:
Time is Ripe for Y2K Rip-offs

Scam artists trying to get your money before the New Year begins

The Y2K computer bug has brought more than computer problems into our homes, it’s a great opportunity for scam artists to get inside as well. With only a couple weeks left to pray on our Y2K fears, the next few days you should be keeping a close watch.

It looks like the telephone is the easiest way for scam artists to reach us. They are calling up peel around the country with a variety of illegal and money-grabbing ideas. Some are posing as bogus bank tellers others are crooked salespeople and software peddlers.

The scams come in many shapes and sizes but they’re all based on one thing, taking your money. It’s easy to avoid them by knowing what to look for or listen to when they call you up.

"They’re playing on this fear of what will happen on January 1, " Holly Anderson with the National Fraud Information Center told the Associated Press. "Con artists are smart. They read the papers."

Here’s a look at some Y2K rip-offs that have taken place across the country; it will give you an idea of what to watch out for in the next couple of weeks.

In New Mexico, a caller posed as an Internal Revenue Service agent and started asking questions related to possible Y2K problems. The caller was able to get personal information like social security numbers, victim’s name and address. With that information the scam artist can ring up some large charge account bills

In Oregon and Washington a "slamming" scheme is underway. This happens when your long distance service is switched, often without the customer’s consent. Callers pretending to represent legitimate long-distance companies made the switch by pretending they wanted to prevent service interruptions in the next millennium. The result for the victims is bigger phone bills.

At most risk for all of these scams are the elderly. Telemarketing workers know that they are the ones most likely to buy what they are offering and that’s why they are targeted. Seniors need to be most aware of Y2K scams out there and remember if it sounds too good to be true it is. If they want your credit card number over the phone don’t give it, and if you have to send in money to win something, you didn’t really win anything.

The Y2K bug is a great cover for a lot of criminals and the public needs to be on guard for the next couple of weeks. Time is running short for the bogus rip-off artists and they are going to make the most of the few days they have left to take your cash.

Source: Associated Press

DATE: 12/16/99

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