Connecticut and 38 other states have reached a settlement with a fake charity network that ran a robocall scam. The scam squeezed over $100 million from people nationwide between 2016 and 2019. The states worked with the Federal Trade Commission to end the scam.
William Tong is attorney general in Connecticut. He urges consumers to be on guard against fraudulent calls, especially because people are vulnerable to vaccine scams during coronavirus.
“Nobody legitimate is going to call you and ask you to pay money to get a vaccine for COVID, or to schedule an appointment,” Tong said.
Tong said there is no way to pay money to jump the line and get a vaccine early.
He also said there are free ways to filter out robocalls. He says to sign up for the Do Not Call list or check the Federal Trade Commission to see if there are additional call blocking apps or options.
Tong said any money they are able to recover from the alleged scammers won’t be returned to the fraud victims.
“So, it actually goes into a charitable fund in Florida and that will be distributed to legitimate charities,” he said.