Scams

Building off the momentum of Black Friday, Cyber Monday has quickly become the biggest online shopping day of the year. Retailers across the country entice consumers with deep discounts. These post-Thanksgiving sales may offer great deals, but the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) encourages consumers to click ‘buy’ with caution. These simple tips will make sure you and your computer stay safe online.

After families have stuffed themselves full of turkey on Thanksgiving Day, they head to bed, and often wake before dawn for the biggest shopping day of the year. Black Friday is known for its blockbuster savings that entice consumers to spend their hard earned money.

  Avoid donation scams In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, email scams which solicit the wiring of money to stranded victims in the Philippines are surfacing. Willing donors should give cautiously over the next few weeks.  

Thanks to Washington's Lottery for drafting this consumer alert Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Officials from Washington's Lottery are bringing attention to lottery scams. Individuals and groups are calling and emailing victims on a more regular basis with the goal of tricking people into thinking they’ve won a lottery prize.

The ‘Chinese Blessing Scam’ has become an epidemic in Chinatowns across the country. Chinese elderly women are the targeted victims. One scammer approaches the victim trying to find a spiritual doctor. The original scammer is joined by more scammers, claiming that they know this doctor and that he had helped them in some miraculous way. They tell the victim they must put all their valuable’s in a sack and pray over them and not to open the sack for a couple of days. After those couple of days has passed, the bag is opened and all the valuables are gone.    

Timeshare owners across the country should be cautious when it comes to selling their unwanted timeshares. A timeshare representative would state they have a buyer and all the consumer needs to pay upfront are the closing costs, which normally range from $1500 to $2500. The representative would then say the consumer will get the check in the mail for their timeshare as soon as the consumer wires the money to them.

With summer and warm weather fast approaching in Washington State, the Washington State Attorney General's Office wants to warn consumers of asphalt scamming companies. Scammers usually prey on people who have gravel driveways but everyone should be alert.

Hurricane Sandy was the second-costliest hurricane in United States history, surpassed only by Hurricane Katrina. Scam artists are now trying to sell Sandy flood damaged vehicles here in Washington State. A flood damaged car may look normal, but almost always will have serious problems including mildew and corroded wires which can result in an electrical failure.

Scammers have started calling Washington residents claiming to represent various courts demanding residents to wire money by 10 a.m. Most recently, the scammers are using the Des Moines Municipal Court's phone number. The Attorney General's Office (AGO) believes these scammers are spoofing the courts phone numbers so when they call you, it looks like a court is calling.

Washington residents have been receiving letters through the mail saying they have "qualified for an award of two roundtrip airline tickets" through US Airlines. These scammers want you to call their toll-free number in order to get your personal information-not to give you free airline tickets. This is a phishing scam.