2014 was a big year for scam artists.
Dan Hendrickson is with the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota and says the most prolific scams of 2014 included time share scams, online pet scams, mystery shopping scams, and tech support scams. Hendrickson says scammers may try to pique a victim's curiosity and then promise something legitimate.
"A big one over the summer was the caller ID scam, that's where people would look down at their caller ID and see their own phone number, and that would obviously make people curious enough to pick up the phone. Then they'd get an automated message saying 'well, we can lower your credit card interest rates.' It sounds pretty good but calls like these have been in the marketplace for a long time and they don't go anywhere good. All these are really pitches to get your credit card numbers. So this was a creative way scammers came up with to get people to pay attention to them.
Hendrickson says scam artists are getting more and more sophisticated in order to lure people to fall for their claims. He says a few scams from last year will carry into this year, and consumers should be on alert for them.
"One of the scams that we think will continue to plague the marketplace are these bogus IRS phone calls. These are working and scammers are getting payments, and scammers stick with what works. So these will continue to plague us well into 2015. Another scam that seems to have gained more traction are utility scams, which uses the same kind of tactic, where you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from your utility company - be it your gas or electric company - saying hey, you owe money, your bill is overdue and if you don't pay us we'll turn off your power."
Hendrickson says as a rule it's important to remember that legitimate companies will never call to confirm or ask for your personal or banking information. He says any phone call or email that puts you in a tough spot immediately should be suspect. He says companies can be checked out for legitimacy on www.bbb.org.