SEATTLE, Washington â The call came in on his business phone last month. It was about 4:00 p.m., Kye Lee remembers, when the caller â a man who introduced himself as a Public UtilityĚýDistrict (PUD) agent â was demanding that he pay $621.56 for unpaid electric bills.
âIf I wonât be able to comply with the payment
Baffled, the 64-year-old Korean immigrant says he had to stop what he was working on at that moment in his grocery
âI have never been late paying my utility bills for seven years [since I have had my business],â Lee said through a translator
Recently, consumer scams primarily targeting
In Washington, scammers â from notarios (notary services) and lending companies to debt collectors and merchandise businesses
Seemingly legitimate
According
The FTC and other law enforcement agencies, Harwood says, received 2.6 million scam-related complaints. Most of these complaints, which did not include the ones in the Do Not Call registry
The Do Not Call registry
With the use of advanced technology, particularly the Internet
Harwood said: âWe canât continue
Encouraging people to speak out, especially those who have fallen victims, Harwood added that it is important to âlet the consumer advocates and law enforcersâ know how they can help when the problem occurs.
âWe canât just be quiet when weâre victims of scams because we wonât be able to know about it,â he said
As for Leeâs case, the fake PUD agent insisted that in order to continue
âI asked the caller, âWhy this is such a short notice?â And he told me that a previous notice was sent in the mail two days ago, but I failed to respond,â Lee said. âHe even told me that I was lucky to have been given a day-long extension.â
Lee was then instructed to go to a nearby Albertsonâs Supermarket and buy a prepaid card called Reloadit to pay his bills. After the purchase, he called the bogus PUD agent and gave the prepaid number on the back of the card.
Then, when he asked for a confirmation
âI felt helpless,â he said.
Jennifer Leach, acting assistant director for the FTCâs division of consumer and business education
âEven if the call is random, as a lot of them are, the victims say it feels like âthey know me,â because they have some information about them,â she said.
In denial?
The victims, Leach said, may be in denial when it happens to them. But she says that by speaking out to authorities, it would help a lot to expose the fraud.
âScammers are professionals,â she added. âItâs their job to get your
Based on studies, according
âThereâs something about it when you say it loud, and it doesnât matter whom you talk to about it,â she added. âThe scammers want to take your money as fast as they can. So if you make it longer for them, they may also move on.
Many undocumented immigrants victimized by scams, however, donât report
âWe donât care about immigration status,â assured Leach. âWe donât track it; we donât report it. We just donât care about it.â
Scams, warned Shannon Smith, consumer protection division chief of Attorney Generalâs Office in Washington, âinvolve all aspects of economy â from mom-and-pop shops to very large corporations,â and so awareness from immigrant consumers is the key to avoid being a victim.
âThereâs a wide range of people out there with deceptive businesses
Notarios publicos
In Yakima Valley, about two hours away from Seattle, notario publicos â which are mostly unlicensed immigration assistants â have been reportedly targeting
âI have seen thousands of farm workers who have been impacted by notarios,â said Laura Contreras, an immigration attorney for Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. âMany of these are actually trying to do good, but they do more harm in the end.â
After Pres. Obama announced his executive order
âNotarios are long-timers â and they even advertise,â she said. âSome of them may file an application
According
Lai cited a Vietnamese man who posed as a USCIS officer, falsely promising other Vietnamese immigrants that if they pay, the process
Restitution
But can victims get restitution for the money they have lost?
While the FTC does not handle individual cases, Harwood says that the agency has been able to get some of the money back for the victimized consumers, as part of a lawsuit against the scammers.
Last year alone, Harwood added that through the FTCâs law enforcement efforts, there were about 740,000 consumers who received more than $65 million in restitution.
Some of the victims, however, may not be able to get the full amount they lost and âit may take two to threeĚýyearsâ for a lawsuit to be completed.
âEven if, say, they only get half of their money back, I believe that justice has been served for them,â Harwood said.
For Kye Lee, his experience with a scammer has made him more determined to help increase awareness in the immigrant communities.
âAs a victim, I feel humiliated and frustrated. Itâs really difficult to get fooled,â Lee said. âBut I know better now, and I will do what I can so people would not experience what I had.â
To report consumer scams and fraudulent activities in Washington State, call the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP; or Washingtonâs Office of the Attorney General at 1-800-551-4636 or 206-464-6684.Ěý
This story is part of a series of ethnic media roundtable discussions on consumer scams across the United States, conducted by New America Media, in partnership with Federal Trade Commission and other law enforcement agencies.Ěý
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