Ombudsman Alert – NEW SCAM SURFACES!

BY DR. LOUIS ALPERT

Beware of a new tactic used by the scammers when you receive a telephone call warning you that you will be charged a “fee” of $299.99 unless you immediately call a specified 800 number (which will not be repeated here).

This new “tactic” obviously designed to scare telephone recipients (especially trusting senior citizens) has resulted in in several complaints made to this Ombudsman and is the very latest scam and certainly should be ignored by all recipients. Several of the complainants suggested that they were considering NOT answering ALL incoming calls UNLESS they recognized the number displayed on the caller ID. This, of course, would eliminate the problem, but it it has the negative effect of possibly eliminating “legitimate” calls from individuals whose names may be unrecognized by the recipient at this time.

In the opinion of OMBUDSMAN ALERT, the telephone carriers such as. Verizon, ATT, , etc. must play a role in policing this multitude of unwanted scam calls and offer the option to block them at the request of any individual subscriber without any charge!

If possible legislation should be considered on the federal and/or the state level to enable an optional blocking at no cost to the consumer.

For starters this Ombudsman would like to suggest that our elected officials, including Congresswoman Lowey ,State Senator Carlucci and State Assembly persons Zebrowsaki and Jaffee consider drafting legislation to accomplish this task.

OMBUDSMAN ALERT would like to invite all of our readers who have received these “annoying” calls to e-mail their comments to editor@rocklandcountytimes.com

  ombudsman, Ombudsman Alert