New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman issued an alert yesterday based on ongoing complaints from consumers reporting being contacted by scammers posing as an attorney from the AG's office, CollectionsCreditRisk.com reported today. The consumers receive a notice from the AG's office that uses confusing legal terms to give the impression that state regulators are investigating the consumers for failing to pay a past due debt. The false claims include "Collateral Check Fraud," "Theft by Deception" and "Violation of Banking Regulations." The letters threaten criminal action and arrest if the debts are not paid. Scammers are reportedly contacting consumers by letter, often received as a PDF attachment to an email, which appears to be signed by an actual New York attorney. The letter sometimes pressures the consumer into sending payments via “FTC regulated vouchers” or PayPal. The letter also directs consumers to call a New York number with a 347 or 646 area code or another number that appears to be based in another state.
