Florida attorney general warns of imposter scam

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-Attorney General Pam Bondi warns Floridians about an unrelenting imposter scam involving individuals impersonating employees from the Florida Attorney General’s Office.

Last month, the Attorney General’s Office received more than 20 complaints of individuals impersonating her office and other legal authorities. According to these complaints, the imposter threatened consumers with arrest or legal action if they did not wire money or provide a prepaid debit card.

Now the Attorney General’s Office is receiving additional complaints of an individual impersonating the office, claiming the office has settled a case and that there is a refund for the consumer.

According to consumer complaints, the caller uses the name Chris Douglas and offers a badge number to consumers. He claims he is with the Loss Prevention Unit or Loss Refund Division, saying he needs a credit card number to order a refund directly to the consumer’s account. Once the consumer gives credit card information, fraudulent charges are made on the card. In other similar cases of these imposter scams, consumers are told that in order to receive their portion of a settlement, they must first pay taxes on it.

Consumers can protect themselves from this scam by:

• Knowing that when the Attorney General’s Office issues settlement funds directly to consumers, they are issued via check not credit or debit card transactions;
• Knowing that the Attorney General’s Office does not require advance fees, “taxes” or charges of any kind to process settlements or issue restitution;
• Not giving out personal or financial information over the phone;
• Reporting all suspicious telephone calls to the Attorney General’s Office at MyFloridaLegal.com or by calling 1-866-9-NO-SCAM; and
• Reporting suspicious telephone calls to the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov/Complaint.