Fishing used to be a great way to relax. Farming was a way to earn an honest living.
But now, con artists are jeopardizing the financial well-being of Colorado residents with a new kind of “phishing” and a new kind of “pharming,” Colorado Attorney General John Suthers warned Monday.
They are two of the scams that his office has seen rise steadily in the past 12 months.
“Phishing” is using e-mail messages to lure consumers to phony websites in order to capture personal and financial information. “Pharming” is the use of software programs and viruses to detour Internet users to dummy sites.
“For some time, senior citizens have been the smallest portion of Internet fraud victims because they were the smallest portion of users,” Suthers said at a news conference. “But what we are now encountering is a predictable period where senior citizens are the fastest area of growth of Internet users. Their grandkids are teaching them how to use it. They are learning how to send e-mails.”
He said that as a result, educational efforts by attorneys general and others on fraudulent Internet activity “really need to step up.”
Suthers also said the seniors – whom he characterized as “our most vulnerable citizens” – are continually being victimized by scam artists using phony pitches.
Especially prevalent is the rise of deceptive charitable appeals over the phone, by mail and the Internet, especially after national or international disasters.
Suthers also listed the top 10 areas of complaints received in Colorado last year by type of business.
Leading the list were complaints about television/satellite/cable systems.
“Frankly, this should not be a surprise because Colorado is home to both Comcast and EchoStar, and because we are home to them, a lot of complaints come in to Colorado,” Suthers said.
The second-largest area of complaints is “telephone communications.”
“We’re also the home to Qwest, and that, just by sheer volume, generates complaints,” the attorney general said.
Next in order were complaints about new-car dealers, collection agencies, moving companies, auto repair, magazine subscriptions, mortgage and escrow companies, roofing contractors and health and medical, including discount health plans and prescription drug cards.
Suthers said that, unfortunately, his office can’t identify every Internet or e-mail scheme, shut down every telemarketing boiler room, or win restitution for every victim.
“What we can do … is constantly alert consumers and legitimate businesses about potential scams,” he said.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
