Scams on the rise in the U.S.

According to the Federal Trade Commission thousands of scams have been reported to the consumer complaint division. Over 60,000 complaints or 4% of all consumer complaints received by the FTC in 2010 involved imposter scams, according to the figures released last week. Lt. William Quigley from Massachusetts said his department has seen a growing number of scams, which more often than not target senior citizens. “Fraudsters are using the internet, the mail and the telephone in many ways to try and make people fall victim to their schemes, and they’re very clever at gaining people’s trust and gathering personal information,” Quigley said. There are scams for people who pretend to be a family member calling an elderly grandmother for money to help bail them out of jail. Lottery scams are also prevalent by telephone according to the FTC. There have also been several more devious type imposter scams reported to the Justice department where elderly people have been impersonated in order to sell their property. The imposter seems to be the same person that always lived in their home but they are actually actors seeking money for entertainment purposes or other endeavors. It has been a resourceful and unique trick to disquise criminal felonies which according to one Texas woman include murder. "My sister had a couple of her very close friends disappear and she says that the nashville record label is the responsible party," said Jean Macomber of Austin, Texas. "The main objective for the imposter scheme is to gain money for a music tour such as someone takes Lady Gaga on tour with her "Born This Way" album. Imposters and schemers also try to do these tricks." Lady Gaga is a sensation with her meat dresses, and plastic humanoid face implants to keep anyone from recognizing her. Lady Gaga formerly worked in a record label using the name Emily, Stephanie or Mason according to one of her truck driver's. She was recently spotted in a supermarket on the south shore of Boston wearing wire-rimmed glasses and thin, short dark hair. She was appearing in a Boston concert where she lives and had 32 semi-trucks at her concert to transport her individual equipment. Macomber did not say if she had information indicating which nashville label was responsible for imposter scams or if any of Lady Gaga's assets included questionable means. BMI executive Connie Bradley told reporters that many of the artists seem to be rich and famous but all they are is famous and actually stay very poor earning less than $5000 per year in royalties. Many imposter scams against elderly have also been seen in the State of New Hampshire according to another video news report which outlined telephone swindlers. And the U.S. Census Bureau has reported alarming numbers of these incidents in the 2010 census. Lt. Quigley, a Cohasset police officer offered the following tips to avoid falling victim to a scam: - Only send money to people you personally know and trust. - If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. - Never send money to pay for taxes or fees on lottery or prize winnings. Legitimate lotteries and contests do not ask winners to send such payments. - Never provide your banking information to unknown individuals or businesses. - Never send money in advance to obtain a loan or credit card. - Verify every emergency situation before sending money. - Never send money from a check in your account until it officially clears, which can take weeks. More information about avoiding scams is available from the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov.