District Attorney warns of collection agency scam

LOS ANGELES – Thieves posing as debt collectors are taking advantage of unsuspecting seniors, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office warns.

The swindlers make cold calls and claim to represent a collection agency; then they make a variety of threats, including filing a lawsuit, unless payment is made, officials said in fraud alert.

The fraudsters will pester consumers repeatedly until a fee is paid via money transfer or a prepaid card. Making the scam even worse, the thieves will sell seniors’ information to other fraudulent groups to repeat the scheme once again.

Authorities recommend the following tips to protect against the collection agency scam:

• Check your accounts to see if you owe money.
• Screen calls from collection agencies if you do not have any debts.
• Report any false collection attempts to your local law enforcement agency.

For more information on scams that target seniors, visit the Elder Abuse/Financial Fraud pages of the District Attorney’s website at http://da.lacounty.gov/seniors/financial-fraud.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of a collection agency  scam, contact the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs at 800-593-8222 or visit http://dcba.lacounty.gov.

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