In January, New Mexico Attorney General Gary King's office received various reports from consumers about the following scams.

This is not a comprehensive list of every scam reported to the A.G.'s office, but rather a sampling of the types of reports the office received in January. (This summary will be updated monthly; it is also available on King's "Scam Alert" page on his Web site, www.ago.state.nm.us.)

Land Sale Scam A company out of Florida called "United States Property Services" and/or "Vacation/Preferred Property Services" has been marketing land in New Mexico. They have been contacting owners of vacant land telling them that they have a buyer or can get a buyer, then charge them a fee for the marketing. The quoted offering price for an owner's real estate is inflated over the actual valuation, which makes the offer attractive. Many of the property owners, who are being contacted, are senior citizens.

The company representative makes a request of the property owner for a payment of anywhere from $300 to $800 to secure the real estate sale transaction. Immediate payment by credit card over the telephone is normally requested, but property owners have also been told they can send the payment to the company by personal check.

The companies separately describe themselves as being "for-sale-by-owner" advertising companies, rather than real estate brokers. The payment, if made by the property owner, is claimed by the company to be a one-time, non-recurring and non-refundable advertising fee. A brief description of the owner's property, without owner contact information, is then posted on a Web site, www.unitedstatespropertyservices.com, rather than a current property sale transaction actually taking place.

Fraudulent check scam

A consumer reported that she had received a $45,000 check to hold for an "investor" from China.

The consumer deposited the check in her bank and waited almost a month for the check to clear. Her bank later called to inform her that the check had cleared. Through a process that was not apparent in the consumer's report, she then wired that money to an undisclosed address in China.

She apparently later discovered from her bank that the "investor's" check came back as bad and the bank withdrew that money from her and her husband's accounts.

Fraudulent charity solicitation

A newspaper reporter called to inquire about a scam that had been reported to her. A man in Santa Fe received a call from someone claiming to be with the New Mexico National Guard, who was asking for donations.

Winning notification calls

Residents in Southern New Mexico reported receiving phone calls from a person claiming to be with "Publisher's Clearing House in Canada" with news they had won the national sweepstakes. The caller instructed the "winner" they would have to first pay for Canadian taxes before their winnings could be sent to them.

A call from "American Publisher's Direct Sweepstakes" was reported to the office. The recipient said she received an urgent message stating that a security person would be sent to her house to collect an "insurance fee" before the sweepstakes winnings could be sent to her. The caller claimed to have sent the consumer a letter within the past month regarding the fee on a $45,000 prize. The consumer reported she had not entered such a sweepstakes.

A consumer received a recorded message on his cell phone stating that fraudulent activity was detected on his account and an immediate payment was necessary to prevent the termination of his cell phone service. The message asked him to state his credit card number, at which point the consumer hung up.

An official-sounding organization called itself the United States Grant Consulting Services has been calling New Mexicans offering free government grants.

One consumer reported she was told she was eligible for a $15,000 home improvement grant. But in order to obtain the grant, she would have to first send a down payment of $249.78 to begin "processing."

Then she would later have to send another $200 for final processing and both payments would have to be with money orders sent via certified mail to an address in Carbondale, Illinois. An Internet search revealed the address belongs to a mailbox rental business.

An individual with "an Indian accent" called a consumer and told her she had won $2,000. The caller verified her phone number and address then asked for bank account information and other personal information. The consumer did not reveal the requested information.

Online scams

The A.G.'s office regularly receives forwarded emails regarding phishing scams, fraudulent job offers and winning sweepstakes notifications.

One that received widespread publicity was sent to the Attorney General's Office by a local television reporter. The email he received purported to be from "Wal-Mart Online Service," and warned that an error was detected in his "Wal-Mart account."

It instructed him to click on a link to confirm his information, including his credit card number, PIN, date of birth, address and other personal information. The website was traced to a server in the Czech Republic.

Consumers are encouraged to report scams they may have received by calling the Consumer Protection Division at 800-678-1508 or forward fraudulent emails to publicinformationoff@ago.state.nm.us.