Friday, January 25, 2019 As a result of the federal government shutdown, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s national Do Not Call registry and consumer complaint submission system are offline and consumers can’t report unwanted robocalls or telemarketing calls. Scammers may use this opportunity to ramp up spam calls to get people’s money or personal information. […]
Thursday, January 10, 2019 Social Security numbers are our most important personal information. These numbers – which can be used to open new credit cards, take out loans, even set up a new identity – are a scammer’s dream. That’s why they work so hard to steal your Social Security number. We’ve been hearing about […]
Tuesday, October 30, 2018 Sometimes it’s hard to tell what is a scam and what isn’t. But here’s an easy one to figure out – if someone is asking you to pay using a gift card, it’s always a scam. Gift cards are being used as part of several different scams, including IRS, jury duty, […]
Saturday, September 29, 2018 Vehicles that have been totally or partially submerged often show up for sale on new and used car lots, after extensive cleaning that makes it hard for buyers to detect damage. Under North Carolina law flood damage must be disclosed in writing, but title paperwork is sometimes unlawfully altered to remove any […]
Friday, September 28, 2018 The North Carolina Secretary of State is warning the public about recent mailings from private entities. These entities solicit business owners to pay unnecessary and excessive additional fees to use its private services to file their annual reports. These letters may appear to be from government representatives, state that a company […]
Friday, September 21, 2018 As North Carolinians begin recovering from Hurricane Florence, our office has started to receive some complaints about tree removal scams. While our Consumer Protection Division works to resolve issues on behalf of all consumers, the best way to protect yourself from scams is to be diligent about the business you hire. […]
Tuesday, September 11, 2018 As Hurricane Florence approaches our coast this week, all of North Carolina is under a state of emergency. This means that our state’s price gouging law is in effect as well. Price gouging occurs if businesses or vendors charge excessively high prices in a time of crisis. If you notice businesses […]
Tuesday, July 31, 2018 Our office has seen a string of email scams in the past few weeks from scammers threatening to release private videos of you unless you pay them. The scammers will contact you and claim that they have a password for your email account. This may be an older password for your […]
Friday, July 20, 2018 If you’ve received a phone call or email from the North Carolina Department of the State Treasurer (DST) claiming that you or your loved ones will be arrested due to a failure to pay outstanding fines, don’t fall for the scam. The scammers may demand that you have to send prepaid […]
Friday, July 06, 2018 As summer vacations begin, you may be looking to book vacation rentals for your summer trips. Be careful as you make these reservations – scammers are ready with fake vacation rental ads to steal your money and leave you stranded on vacation. Scammers may place real homes on vacation rental sites […]