Property Tax Scam

Consumers continue to report receiving official-looking forms by mail with the County Assessor's ID No. and the address of their real property along with the current assessed value of the property. The form states that for a "processing fee," paid by a "due date," the citizen's property can be "reassessed." The letter also states that, if the fee is not received by the due date, a "late fee" will be applied. Be advised, any real-property owner can request a reassessment without charge from our County Assessor's office. The County Assessor's office is located at the County Administration Building on Pacific Coast Highway in San Diego.

Carefully check the return address on the mailers. The Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs is compiling the list of complaints for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office therefore, if the return address on the mailer is a Los Angeles address, please contact the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs at 800- 593-8222 or fill out complaint form.

The California Attorney General's Office is taking complaints relating to other California companies that purport to assist consumers with filing property tax reassessment requests. Please contact the California Attorney General's Office Public Inquiry Unit at (800) 952-5225.

Foreclosure Prevention/Land Patent Scam

Citizens have recently reported attending "seminars," in various locations in the County, in which they are told that they can protect their homes from foreclosure by obtaining a "land patent" on the property. The citizens report paying varying sums of money (usually between $500-$15,000) to apply for the "land patent." They are told that they must remove the street address numbers from their house, remove any mail receptacle, and "trademark" their name, among other tasks, to protect their property from foreclosure. The citizens report that the seminar holders state that, with these "protections" in place, they will be able to re-negotiate their promissory notes and trust deeds with the lender and, as a result, will only be required to pay 10% of their previous mortgage payment each month. For assistance, please contact the District Attorney's Real Estate Fraud Hotline at 619-531-3552.

Jury Duty Scam

The public needs to be aware that individuals identifying themselves as U.S. court employees have been telephonically contacting citizens and advising them that they have been selected for jury duty. These individuals ask to verify names and Social Security numbers, then ask for credit card numbers. If the request is refused, citizens are then threatened with fines.

The judicial system does not contact people telephonically and ask for personal information such as your Social Security number, date of birth or credit card numbers. If you receive one of these phone calls, do not provide any personal or confidential information to these individuals. This is an attempt to steal or to use your identity by obtaining your name, Social Security number and potentially to apply for credit or credit cards or other loans in your name. It is an attempt to defraud you.

If you have already been contacted and have already given out your personal information, please monitor your account statements and credit reports, and contact your local FBI office. Local FBI field office telephone numbers can be found in the front of your local telephone directory or on www.fbi.gov.

Filing an Identity Theft Police Report Can Save you Money

"California leads the nation when it comes to critical privacy protection laws," said Charlene Zettel, director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. "California law [Penal Code section 530.6] enables California residents who believe they have been victimized by financial fraud and identity theft to request a police report -- regardless of whether the crime was committed in the victim’s location or somewhere else in the country."

California has enacted nearly 80 privacy protection laws during the past six years. "Having civil and criminal identity theft penalties in place and continuing to inform Californians on how to prevent the theft of their personal or financial information will help stem this invasive crime," Zettel said.

A helpful Identity Theft Victim Checklist is available from the California Department of Consumer Affairs’ Office of Privacy Protection. There is also a Guide for Victims of Criminal Identity Theft. The California Office of Privacy Protection provides information, advocacy, training, and "best practice" guidelines for consumers, businesses and other organizations.

New Twist in Identity Theft -- Car Cloning

A new type of identity theft is on the increase, called car cloning. Thieves take the identity of your vehicle by copying its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and then applying that VIN to a similar, but stolen, vehicle. Paperwork may then be generated to support the copy cat car, and the car may be sold to an unsuspecting customer.

This process makes the auto theft more difficult to trace.In fact, the buyer may be among the first to discover the fraud when attempting to properly register the vehicle.
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), "auto theft costs the citizens of the United States over $8 billion annually."
NICB Cloned Vehicle Fact Sheet

Charitable Trusts

Taking time to learn about a charity before you donate can go a long way to making sure that the nonprofit organization and cause match your intentions. However, researching charities can be daunting when you consider that there are more than 700,000 federally recognized nonprofit organizations - nearly 90,000 of them in California - and no official "seal of approval" issued.

The "Charities Search" section of California Attorney General's Web site offers links to GuideStar's information on California charities, including many charities' filings with the IRS, Form 990. The database is searchable by name, location, income range, category or identification number. For more information see Charitable Trusts.

Free Credit Report

The Federal Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's largest consumer protection agency, has prepared a brochure, Your Access to Free Credit Reports, explaining your rights and how to order a free annual credit report. A credit report contains information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you've been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.

Reporting Web Sites or Offending E-Mail

Receiving “stuff” from on line solicitors via e-mail or on the web and want to report it? There are four sites you can go to lodge a complaint regarding spam, child pornography, obscene web sites dealing with adult pornography or anything obscene, or a web site that is criminal in natural and does not fit the above categories – more

SPAM SCAM - Spoofing You Out of Personal Info

Consumers should be on the alert for more sophisticated "spoof" e-mails that trick unwary and unsuspecting Internet users into giving personal information that can be used to drain bank accounts, fraudulently get credit cards and commit other crimes.

The scam is commonly called "brand spoofing" or "phishing" because the spam mail sent uses familiar or legitimate-sounding names of companies to gain personal information. This scam capitalizes on names that are close to the real one. A recent example is instead of the real Earthlink.net, the spam mail used an URL like www.earthlinkservice.com. Small and large companies have been spoofed, such as Bank of America, Best Buy, PayPal and First Union Bank.

Consumers may be sent e-mails that seemingly come from a company with which they've done business or be sent by hyperlink to a phony web site - designed even to look like the legitimate business web site. One victim reported getting a seemingly authentic e-mail from what appeared to be his Internet Service Provider telling him his credit card had expired and new information was needed. He was asked to provide a credit card number and to give his bank account number and ATM PIN number.

• When in doubt, throw the e-mail out.
• Never give out personal information by e-mail.
• Don't trust e-mail headers. They can be faked.
• Never fill out a form in an e-mail message. You never know who will get it.
• Never trust the link in an e-mail message. Scam artists are getting sophisticated and are able to have their web site mirror a legitimate business web site.
• Don't trust e-mail messages on the status of your account. Always go directly to a company's web site to access your account information by means of your personal identification and log-in.

Federal Trade Commission's Do-Not-Call Registry

The Federal Trade Commission's national "do not call" registry, which is a part of the amended telemarketing sales rule, or TSR, is available at donotcall.gov or by phone 888-382-1222. The do-not-call registry covers most unwanted telemarketing calls that are part of nationwide, interstate selling campaigns.

Do-not-call registration is free. Online registration is available if you have an e-mail account. To register by phone, you will need to call from the number you wish to register.

Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008, unless there are removed as follows: Under the Act, the Federal Trade Commission will continue to remove telephone numbers that have been disconnected and reassigned to other customers. Consumers can delete their telephone numbers from the registry at any time by calling 1-888-382-1222 (TTY 1-866-290-4236) - the call must be made from the telephone number they wish to delete. If you continue to receive unwanted calls, there is addition information available at ftc.gov.

To file a complaint:

• Visit ftc.gov
• Call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261