Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Beware Of Phone Scams

Barbara H. Holt, Ph.D.

Clark County Extension Agent -

Family and Consumer Sciences

Cooperative Extension Service

GREATEST SCAMS

Consider these facts:

• One in six Americans report being a victim of fraud.

• The U.S. Postal Service reports that 30 percent of consumers reply to contest scams.

• Fewer than 10 percent of consumers who report being swindled ever report the crime.

• An estimate 700 telemarketers in the U.S. employ three to five million persons and make 18 million calls per day. Ten percent of these telemarkers are not legitimate.

• A U.S. House subcommittee on health and long-term care noted that people over the age of 65 comprise 12 percent of the U.S. population, but represent roughly 30 percent of scam victims.

• According to the FBI, Americans lose over $40 billion per year from telephone fraud.

• Ninety-two percent of all American adults have at one time or another received a postcard or letter in the mail informing them that they have definitely won a fabulous prize. Near one-third (53.6 million people) have responded.

• Five percent of all American adults, or over 9.2 million people, report that they have experienced fraudulent misuse of a credit card, such as Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

• One in three (34%) American adults have been contacted by telephone about purchasing a financial investment.

• Just over half (54%) of American adults would hang up the phone when someone they didn't know presented them with a fabulous opportunity to make an investment.

• Over one in six Americans (17%) say they find it very or somewhat difficult to resist a telephone sales pitch. More blacks and hispanics than whites find it difficult to resist a telephone sales pitch. People with less than a high school education and people living in households with an annual income under $15,000 are also more likely to find a telephone sales pitch difficult to resist.

• Just over half (51%) of those people who report being cheated out of their money attempted to contact the company which cheated them. However, only nine percent of those who were cheated by a company got their money back.

• Fewer than one-third (31%) of individuals who have been cheated out of their money reported the matter to anyone.

Consumers need to learn to recognize and avoid frauds, ripoffs and unscrupulous deals in the marketplace. They need to understand their legal rights and what to do if they become a victim of fraud. They need to be encouraged to fight back against wrong doing in the marketplace.

The Clark County Extension office, 5th and Clay Streets in Arkadelphia, (246-2281) has information sheets and other educational materials for consumers. Check it out. Don't be a victim. Fight fraud.