Tag: scams at a glance

Phantom debt scammers often pose as legitimate creditors or company representatives attempting to collect valid debts.

Romance scams prey on an individual’s desire for companionship and occur when imposters pose as a person seeking love on dating sites, social media or even in-person to gain trust—and ultimately swindle unsuspecting sweethearts.

Moody participated in the Federal Trade Commission’s annual launch of Identity Theft Awareness Week, which kicked off on Monday to help provide consumers with resources and tips to protect their finances and personal information. With Floridians beginning to file 2020 taxes, the new Scams at a Glance: Tax Identity Theft brochure is designed to help taxpayers avoid identity thieves attempting to gain access to personal information through tax-filing schemes.

Floridians are already receiving payments both through direct deposit and mailed checks. Moody said this week that she wants to make sure Floridians are prepared to spot and avoid scams related to the federal payments. On Tuesday, Moody issued a Consumer Alert highlighting scams related to the latest stimulus payments and tips to help Floridians avoid falling prey.

To highlight these scams and provide resources for Floridians to share with loved ones, especially seniors, Moody’s Scams at a Glance program released downloadable brochures detailing information about how to spot common COVID-19 and stimulus scams to stop fraud in its tracks. The brochures are printable and available in both English and Spanish.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, more than 650,000 consumers fell victim to identity theft in 2019, an increase of more than 200,000 from 2018. Floridians reported the third most identity theft reports of any state with more than 64,000.

Scams at a Glance is an outreach program created by the Attorney General’s Office, complete with a webpage containing information about common and emerging scams.

With the holiday season fast approaching, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced this week that is building on her Scams at a Glance program with a ‘Tis the Season' edition. 

Imposter scams take many different forms and can originate from an email, phone call or text message. Imposter phone calls are effective because spoofing technology allows scammers to change the information displayed on caller IDs to give the appearance that their calls are coming from a government entity.

“Scams at a Glance” is a new outreach program complete with a webpage on the Florida Attorney General’s website with information about common and emerging scams. The webpage also provides downloadable brochures designed to teach consumers how to avoid falling victim to fraud.