CONSUMER BULLETIN

[Pages:4]CONSUMER BULLETIN

FROM THE OFFICE OF FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL CHARLIE CRIST

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2005

At Seniors' Service

Older Floridians protect other older Floridians from consumer scams

Thousands of cars under water in New Orleans? They're bound to turn up soon in Florida used car lots. A very old woman living alone in the country? An easy mark for sales pitches about remodeling. "And it will take her life savings to do it," says John O'Farrell.

O'Farrell didn't stop understanding how things work when he retired as an engineer for IBM. Now he brings that savvy to his new role as a volunteer for Seniors vs. Crime, a statewide program that assists the Attorney General's Office. Its goal is to help older Floridians recognize and extricate themselves from consumer scams.

A long-term annuity for a woman of 90. Pricy

filtration systems for tap water that's perfectly good. Payments to handymen who disappear. "Free" books that morph into expensive subscriptions. Canadian lotteries. Nigerian lotteries. Australian lotteries.

Floridians experience such schemes every day. "I've had to deal with a lot of these problems myself," says O'Farrell. "And I had a great deal of difficulty finding any help."

Elderly Floridians are a favorite target of con artists, and they need special assistance protecting themselves, according to a report prepared for the Florida Legislature. The report directed the Attorney General to find an "innovative, creative" way to solve the problem.

SEE "SLEUTHS," PAGE 2

Hotels can't hide charges

Twelve Marriott hotels in Florida will no longer be able to conceal certain extra charges from guests, under an agreement with the Attorney General.

The agreement addresses a practice by some Marriott hotels of adding an "energy surcharge" or other charges to bills without properly disclosing the charges to guests.

SEE "NEWS," PAGE 4

IN THE NEWS

"SLEUTHS," FROM PAGE 1

The first of 25 Seniors vs. Crime storefront offices opened in 2001 with help from the Attorney General. From Miami to Pensacola, volunteers field phone calls, check out marketing materials and even sleuth undercover on behalf of state law-enforcement agencies.

When older people think someone might be misleading them about a business decision, they can phone or drop by a storefront to talk to trained volunteers. Victims of deceptive practices are often embarrassed, or even fearful about complaining.

One woman spent $7,000 on a mattress. Another not only

"A lot of people won't go to the police department when

hired a handyman

they've been taken advantage of," says O'Farrell. "We think but bought him a

we can get them to talk to us when they wouldn't talk to anyone else."

car. In both

Many elderly people struggle over business transactions. Widows in particular often spent years leaving decisions up to their husbands. "They have no experience handling these matters," says Joe Stein, regional director of Seniors vs. Crime. "And a lot of them have disposable income -- so

cases, Seniors vs. Crime was able to get their money back.

they become targets."

SEE "SLEUTHS," PAGE 3

How the seniors program works

The Seniors vs. Crime program is a special project of the Attorney General's Office aimed at providing direct help to older Floridians.

The program is a non-profit corporation and operates with funds received in the settlements of economic-crimes cases reached by the Attorney General. No taxpayer money is spent on the program.

Most of the 25 Seniors vs. Crime storefronts were opened in partnerships with local law-enforcement agencies, which provide office space and equipment. These agencies generally address only violations of criminal laws.

The seniors program is a way of getting civil disputes -- such as between customers and businesses, or landlords and tenants -- handled too. The unit reports particularly egregious or complicated cases to the Attorney General.

Seniors vs. Crime has seven paid employees and about 2,105 volunteer "senior sleuths."

Because it has no dedicated source of funding, the program welcomes donations. More information is available at the website .

"SLEUTHS," FROM PAGE 2

It's also clear from the unit's records that con artists take advantage of some elderly Floridians' declining mental faculties. One woman spent $7,000 on a mattress. Another not only hired a handyman but bought him a car. In both cases, Seniors vs. Crime was able to get their money back. Since 2001, the unit has recovered $3.8 million for consumers, including $815,000 in 2004.

One day, a confused older man wandered into a storefront with a paper bag full of important financial documents, revealing that he was worth thousands of dollars. The Seniors unit managed to get him mentalhealth assistance. The mission is to help older people in ways large and small, sometimes just figuring out a phone bill.

The volunteer force includes former professionals and experts on specialized topics. They've looked at investments and health care and real-estate transactions on behalf of baffled consumers. "Within the means at our disposal, we can give them honest and accurate answers," says O'Farrell.

Parke Saffer, for instance, was in the insurance business and has been analyzing deceptive annuity schemes. "Ma'am," he tells a visitor, "I know every trick of the trade." Another volunteer is operating undercover for the state Department of Financial Services, gathering information about a salesman touting annuities, apparently without a license.

Senior volunteers can also be found double-checking receipts at supermarkets and counting pills in prescriptions dispensed by pharmacists..

Working undercover for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, another volunteer posed as an ordinary customer in a sting involving water-filtering equipment. The salesman's misleading spiel was secretly videotaped, and the case was "successfully prosecuted," Stein says.

In 2004 alone -- out of a total of 1,737 cases brought to Seniors vs. Crime across Florida -- 145 were determined to involve criminal activity, and of these 36 resulted in arrests. A small percentage of the cases was deemed to be unworkable.

Of the rest, nearly 80 percent ended in refunds or in some other way that was satisfactory to the consumers involved.

"NEWS," FROM PAGE 1

For two years, 12 Marriott-owned or Marriott-managed hotels will not impose any automatic charges on guests unless they are part of a group that agreed to the charges in a contract. The agreement also requires that the charges be disclosed to each guest in advance.

The hotels are the Marriott Harbor Beach, Marriott Orlando World Center, Marriott South Beach, Marriott Doral, Marriott Marco Island, Renaissance Eden Roc, Marriott Miami Airport, Marriott Miami Biscayne, Marriott Fort Lauderdale Marina, Marriott Tampa Westshore, Tampa Airport Marriott and Marriott Tampa Downtown.

Office of Attorney General The Attorney General's Economic Crimes Division is still

Charlie Crist

investigating hidden charges imposed by other hotel chains. In

State of Florida

May, the Starwood Hotels chain signed an agreement with the

The Capitol PL-01

Attorney General to stop similar charges.

Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050

850-414-3300

Hurricane fraud prohibited

Office of Citizen Services At the request of the Attorney General, a judge enjoined a Nassau

850-414-3990

County man from seeking donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina

Toll-free Hotline

online. Robert E. Moneyhan, 51, allegedly created several Katrina

866-966-7226

websites -- none a legitimate charitable operation.

(866-9-NO-SCAM)

"The thought that someone would seek to pervert relief efforts when

Economic Crimes Division assistance is so desperately needed is truly appalling," said Consumer Protection Attorney General Charlie Crist.

850-414-3600

As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans, Moneyhan

Antitrust Division 850-414-3300

registered the domain names , , and . Donations elicited by at least two of his websites were allegedly

Office of Statewide

directed to Moneyhan's private Paypal account.

Prosecution

850-414-3700

Jobs scam surfaces



A new scam in Florida and other states targets people seeking jobs on the Internet. In a various of the famed Nigerian business scam, the job-seekers are contacted by what purports to be a European computer company. The "company" wants to hire them -- but first it needs help that can cost the job-seekers money.

If the target agrees, he is sent two forged State of Arkansas checks made out in his name, one for $2,800 and the other for $2,400. The checks are high-grade forgeries of an actual State of Arkansas check and may not be detected right away by banks. The recipients are told to deposit the checks and then immediately to wire money to the "company."

The scam targets people who post resumes online, primarily at .

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download