Recently, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is putting an end to one large sweepstakes scam based in Ventura County. The defendant in the case owned three companies that allegedly mailed out more than 3.7 million letters to people in more than 156 countries. In this case, instead of asking for large sums of money from senior citizen victims, they asked for smaller sums of money. California financial elder abuse attorneys warn the public not to fall for sweepstakes scams no matter how much money the fraudsters ask for.

In this case, the senior citizen victims received personalized letters with official looking seals, stamps and bar codes. The seniors were told that they had won millions of dollars and could get the money by first sending in a small fee of $20-$30 within a limited period of time. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the scam has brought in more than $11 million dollars, mostly from senior citizens. California financial elder abuse attorneys say that senior citizens are often targeted for these kinds of mailings.

One of the letters that was mailed out as a part of this scam states that the victim has been chosen from a pool of 250,637 names. There is fine print on the back of the letter that states that consumers will actually only receive lists of sweepstakes they can enter instead of a cash prize. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the fine print does not clear the company of wrong doing because the claims are misleading and victims do not get what they are promised. Frequently, people do not see the fine print and send in the $20-$30 fee.

Sweepstakes scams such as this are widespread and one of the top five scams targeting consumers, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The fact that sweepstakes scams successfully target senior citizens makes them another form of financial elder abuse.

Evans Law Firm, Inc. handles elder abuse cases in California. If you think that you have witnessed or are the victim of elder abuse then, contact Evans Law Firm, Inc. at 41

Credit counselors, state regulators and debt
collectors all agree on one thing: ignoring a debt collector’s phone
calls and letters is not going to help get rid of the debt. The only way
to really stop them from bothering you is to deal with the debt,
otherwise, it will only get worse.

Here are 4 tips for consumers to help deal with debt collectors.

Avoid them altogether

Contact
your original creditor to work out some kind of payment plan that you
can handle with your current financial situation. Most financial
institutions are open to customized payment plans especially if their
clients request for it. If you don’t contact them, they will sell the
debt to a 3rd party credit or debt collector.

Know your rights

This
might just save you from paying thousands of dollars. The FTC or
Federal Trade Commission has a collection of publications made to help
customers learn about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a law that
protects their rights-under the act, nuisance and harassing phone
calls, abusive language and threats are illegal.

These
should be taken note of and reported to your state’s attorney general’s
office and the FTC. Debt collectors usually have a debt collection
lawyer in California working together with them. Try to ask for the
contact information of the lawyer so that your lawyer can personally
send a complaint to him or her.

Never ignore these phone calls and letters

You
have to reply or work on these notices right away. You have the right,
according to law, to write or call in for a copy of a verification of
the debt being asked from you. Make sure that the debt being collected
is actually yours. You also need to make sure that it’s not old debt.
You could have paid that amount already and the debt collection lawyer
in California is using old data from your original creditor.

Get a lawyer

You
can’t do this alone. It’s easier to get a credit lawyer to help you out
with the situation. They know everything about the system so any
loopholes and problems found in your case can be fixed. You also end up
saying money if you get a lawyer since they will check the debt if it
matches to how much you really owe.