INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Advancements in technology can make life easier, but they can also make it easier for scammers to get hard-earned money from unsuspecting Hoosiers.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller says con artists are discovering new ways to victimize people every day whether it’s through the mail, by phone or online.
“In the old days, it was just a local guy trying to scam you out of money,” Zoeller said. “Now these are very sophisticated rings of people, and they’re much more capable. So, people have to be on greater alert and I think our legislation has to increase the protections.”
Zoeller is proposing new laws that would provide his office better resources to protect Indiana residents from consumer fraud. He says they would target some of the top areas for consumer complaints, home improvement and construction scams, debt collection fraud, and those who prey on the elderly.
Along with the information people share online, Zoeller says, data breaches have made personal information much easier to access. He adds despite extensive publicity about it, con artists are still pulling off what is known as the ‘grandparent scam,’ using social media to their advantage.
“The scam artist will call the grandparents, knowing the child is down in Florida or wherever, and they’ll say they’ve been arrested, they’re a friend, they need money, and to send it to this account,” says Zoeller. “So, they know a lot about the family because they’ve seen it on Facebook.”
Zoeller says home construction and repair scams are so common he’s suggesting a voluntary registry be created for contractors. Another proposal involves debt collectors, and would require them to first identify themselves and explain how much is owed.
“An explanation that you would have to do through the Fair Debt Collection Act later we want them to do it up front, so we can avoid mostly the debt buyers. This is a huge number of complaints that we get in this office.”
People who believe they’ve been a victim of a scam can file a complaint with the AG’s office by calling 800-382-5516 or in.gov/attorneygeneral
Mary Kuhlman
