New York Attorney Letitia James released a new report of the top 10 consumer fraud complaints that her office received last year, topped by Internet-related schemes.
It was the 14th year in a row that Internet-related complaints topped the list.
According to James’ office, the top 10 consumer complaints were:
- Internet-related (4,436 complaints in 2019);
- Consumer-related (2,659);
- Automobile (2,510);
- Landlord/Tenant disputes (1,910);
- Utilities (1,811);
- Credit (1,206);
- Retail sales (1,091);
- Home repair/construction (901);
- Mail order and online catalogs (593);
- Mortgage (493).
“This top 10 list not only reflects the numerous ways in which consumers were unfortunately defrauded, cheated, and conned in 2019, but should serve as a warning sign for all consumers as we forge ahead into 2020,” James said.
To help avoid becoming the victim of any of these scams, James offered a list of advice for each scenario here.
“Consumers who have helped identify and report issues to our office have been invaluable partners in our efforts to stop deceptive scams and will be vital in our efforts to stop fraudsters dead in their tracks going forward,” the AG added. “My office will continue to use every tool at its disposable to protect New York consumers and enforce our laws.”
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