Consumer Alert: Top 5 consumer scams of 2017

<p>The Better Business Bureau says that it received a record 47,000 complaints to its scam tracker in 2017.</p>

News 12 Staff

Jan 19, 2018, 10:10 PM

Updated 2,287 days ago

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The Better Business Bureau says that it received a record 47,000 complaints to its scam tracker in 2017.
The BBB says that there are several scams that keep popping up all of the time across the country.
One such scam involves fake calls from the IRS. The scammer says that the victim owes money to the agency. But the IRS says that this is a scam and that they won’t just call you out of the blue to collect.
Another popular scam entails “too good to be true” jobs. The bureau says to beware of jobs that promise a large sum of money or any job that involves reshipping packages.
“Not only is that a scam, you may quite likely be involved in something illegal if that’s what your job description is,” says BBB President Melisa Companick.
Vacation scams are also popular. These scams involve telling the victim they won a vacation and attempt to take money or information that way.
Consumers should also be aware of online shopping scams. Officials say that websites from China are often where these scams come from. The prices may look great, but some shoppers say that they paid for name-brand items and received cheap knockoffs.
The No. 1 scam, according to the Better Business Bureau, is a scam that supposedly steals the victim’s voice.
The caller will ask if the victim can hear them OK. Supposedly, if the victim answers "yes", the scammer could record their voice and then use it to authorize charges in their name.
The bureau says that there are not a lot of confirmed cases of people losing any money. But experts say that anyone who receives a similar call should hang up as a precaution.


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