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W.Va. officials warn of consumer scam
CHARLESTON -- State officials are warning consumers about a scam in which they are threatened over an Internet loan which they never obtained or had already paid off.
The scam involves consumers receiving phone calls from a person speaking English with a foreign accent who claims to be from the U.S. National Bank, Federal Investigation Bureau, United Legal Processing or other phony names, according to Attorney General Darrell McGraw. The callers refuse to disclose real names and addresses and typically pose as law enforcement officers, investigators, lawyers and bankers.
The callers claim the consumer will be arrested for bank fraud or other crimes unless money is wired immediately, according to McGraw. They threaten that there are warrants against the consumer as well. They usually call consumers at work and tell their supervisors that the consumer has committed fraud.
"Because the fraudsters make a special point of calling consumers repeatedly at work, employers must understand that the consumers are innocent victims of a criminal enterprise and cannot stop the calls from coming," McGraw said in a press release.
For more information, go online to www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam. Victims can call the Consumer Protection Hot Line at 800-368-8808, or by obtaining a complaint form from the Attorney General's Web site.
