Consumer Corner Column

That missed-call alert on your cell phone may be from a scammer trying to ding your wallet.

The first week of March marks National Consumer Protection Week. While our office makes educating and protecting Kansas consumers a priority year-round, we take this week as an opportunity to draw Kansans’ attention to ways they can protect themselves from scams and how our office can help if they’ve become a victim. To help you watch out for some of these scams, we’re sharing our top five most-common complaints from 2013.

Recent high-profile data breaches by large retail chains have many Kansas consumers on alert for identity theft. It's important to check your bank and credit card statements every month for suspicious charges. However, another option to guard personal information is to put a security freeze on your credit report.

• What should I do if my data is breached?
• How do I get a security freeze?

The time of year is once again upon us when Kansas families will gather together to give thanks for their blessings of the past year and celebrate the holiday season. This is also the time of year when people are feeling the most generous, and charitable organizations are making requests for assistance to help those in need.

While there are many great causes to support, there are also scam artists out there who pose as legitimate charities looking to make a buck off of Kansans’ generosity.

Prepaid debit cards have become popular ways to pay bills over the phone or order things online without using a credit card. However, these cards have also become the target for scam artists looking for quick access to your money.

Our office recently has seen an uptick in complaints about phone callers who claim to be from Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Like many scams, these calls are nothing more than a ploy to try to get your personal information.