BEWARE OF THE SCAM; OFFICIALS WARN AGAINST TELEMARKETING FRAUD

Hang up.

Officials with three state agencies offered that advice to senior citizens at a telemarketing fraud seminar Monday in Cape Girardeau.

"We'll advise people to hang up, basically to be on the safe side," said Erv Switzer, chief counsel with the attorney general's office in St. Louis.

The attorney general's office has been working to combat telemarketing fraud along with the Missouri Department of Public Safety and the securities division of the secretary of state's office.

Switzer and representatives of the two other agencies spoke to about 75 senior citizens and area law enforcement officers at the seminar at Grace United Methodist Church. The session was sponsored by the local chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons and the SALT organization, Seniors and Lawmen Working Together.

Telemarketing fraud is a major problem nationwide. Americans lose an estimated $40 billion a year to telemarketing scams, the AARP says. Many of the victims are elderly.

AARP found that 56 percent of the names on fraudulent telemarketers' "mooch lists" of likely victims were 50 years of age or older.

In some cases, people have lost their life savings, the AARP and law enforcement officials say.

One victim in Missouri lost $40,000 to telemarketing fraud.

There are about 140,000 telemarketing firms in the nation. up to 10 percent or 14,000 of them may be fraudulent enterprises, the AARP says.

In a videotape shown at the seminar, one convicted telemarketer in Nevada said he and others operated in a world of drugs, alcohol and "sheer greed."

There are all sorts of fraudulent schemes.

Switzer showed examples of so-called prizes designed to rip off the consumer. They included the latest "model Mustang," which was nothing more than a toy model; and a satellite receiver, a conventional rabbit-ears antenna shaped like a satellite dish.

Switzer said telemarketing criminals try to twist the language.

Telemarketers move around. "They are hard to find," he said.

Fraudulent telemarketers increasingly are operating from Canada where it is more difficult to trace the calls.

Many also operate from ever-changing addresses in Nevada, California, Texas and Florida.

"In Missouri, it is illegal to make solicitations of any type which are deceptive," Switzer said.

Switzer said the attorney general's office gets about 60,000 calls a year to its consumer fraud hotline. The number is 800-392-8222.

About 5 percent of the hotline calls involved telephone slamming, the practice of changing a person's long-distance carrier without authorization.

Last year, the attorney general's office recovered almost $10 million from scam artists.

Some fraudulent telemarketers have been sent to prison. In one case, two telemarketers from California were sentenced to five- and four-year prison terms.

"We got one sentence of seven years recently on an asphalt paving scam," he said.

Switzer said some fraudulent telemarketers prey on people with Alzheimer's disease. "The cold heartedness is almost unbelievable."

The attorney general's office has worked with the elderly in "sting" operations to catch the criminals. In one case, 900 volunteers received 7,000 mail solicitations in one month. The investigation led to the issuance of 28 cease-and-desist orders. Another 250 telemarketing operations were shut down, he said.

Many of the scams center on sweepstakes prizes where the victims pay money to get their so-called prizes.

Today, there are Y2K scams, which prey upon people's fears of computer glitches in the new millenium. Con artists pretend to be computer consultants and get small businesses to pay them several hundred dollars to "fix" their computers.

Switzer said the public shouldn't buy unsolicited merchandise over the phone.

Katholene Palmero, an investor education specialist with the securities division of the secretary of state's office, said Missourians need to be wary of investment offers made over the telephone.

The securities division regulates securities that are sold in the state. Those who sell securities or give investment advice must be licensed.

Persons wishing information can contact the state's investor hotline at 800-721-7996.

Palmero said people should use common sense and do their homework before investing.

Tim Taylor, a program specialist with the Missouri Department of Public Safety, has no sympathy for telemarketing criminals. "They are scum," he said.

Taylor said persons who are victimized by telemarketing fraud should report the crime to law enforcement agencies.

Taylor said people shouldn't take the bait from con artists. "Hang up that phone. Rip up that mail," he said.

Consumers shouldn't give out their credit card, Social Security or bank account numbers over the telephone.

"Take a stand. This is where it starts," he told seminar participants.