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Robocalls are the most common complaint to consumer protection offices. People are frustrated by them every day, along with unsolicited emails and text messages. Annoying robocalls are difficult to stop. From the Justice Department and FBI to local police, law enforcement tries to combat robocalls, but most times the calls come from locations outside the US, or are manipulated via computers bouncing calls all over the country and world. These scammers/hackers/criminals are very good at what they do – it’s organized crime and billions of dollars are stolen every year. They want to steal your money, steal your identity and steal your personal, confidential information. The best hope to stop them is for telephone carriers to block these calls before we get them, and the federal government finally confronted these carriers in December 2019 by passing the federal TRACED Act. It will take some time for this law to really impact robocalls, so for now, we’re stuck getting them every day.

Our office believes it’s critically important for consumers to protect themselves from the threats posed by scam calls, emails and texts – here’s some advice:

Don’t respond to any unsolicited calls, emails or texts, and especially don’t give anyone your personal information – such as your social security number, financial account info or user names/passwords – unless you are 100% sure who you are speaking with.
When robocallers say it’s an “emergency,” mention a “small fee” for services, or pressure you for information, it’s usually a scam. Consumers should also be careful with calls from alleged charities, it’s quite possible it’s a scammer.
If you get a call, text or email from an alleged government office, bank, credit card company, or from anywhere else, and you think it might be legitimate, just hang up the phone and you call back the entity that allegedly contacted you. This way you ensure you’re speaking with the right person. Also, if there are links in suspicious emails and texts, never click on them.
Screen your calls by using caller ID and voice mail. If a call is not from one of your contacts, let the unsolicited/unknown call go to voicemail, and then check your voicemail several times a day. When you get a scam robocall, you should always block that number on your cell phone.
Get an app for your phone that blocks/limits robocalls – there are many on the market to review – here’s two examples: Nomorobo or YouMail.
Your best defense to unsolicited robocalls is to just hang up the phone. Don’t speak with them because it’s possible they are taping your voice to use against you. Also, if the robocall asks that you hit a number (sometimes #9) on your phone to stop getting future calls, don’t do it, it’s part of the scam.
Be careful of “spoofed” calls, when your caller ID indicates it’s a local incoming call, but actually it’s a scam caller from far away.
It’s important to review your bank and credit card statements every month to identify possible scam charges.
Even though it provides limited protection, you still should put your phone number on the federal “Do Not Call Registry.”
Visit the following sites to file complaints:

Feb. 09, 2009

The county government has wrapped up its latest investigation of the sale of outdated food and the results are in: 21 local stores are facing $59,000 in fines for failing to remove expired items from their shelves.

The Department of Consumer Protection acted following the recent inspection of 46 food stores. This was the third round in a series of comprehensive countywide inspections that began in late 2007. While overall, Westchester stores continue to do better than in the initial round of inspections, the latest check finds the problem still persists at some stores.

We want to make sure that consumers get their money’s worth when they shop for food - - especially in these tough economic times. We’ll continue cracking down on the sale of outdated items. It’s not too much to ask that consumers be able to consistently find fresh, unexpired food on the shelves of their local grocery.

The stores with the worst results were Pathmark in Port Chester with 271 outdated items and Whole Foods Market in White Plains with 156.

Singled out for praise were A&P in Armonk and Costco in New Rochelle, the only stores where no outdated items were found in the latest investigation. In addition, twelve other stores had fewer than 10 outdated items.

Of the 46 supermarkets and other food sellers throughout the county inspected, investigators found an average of 35 outdated items per store. That’s a 60% reduction from the 88 outdated items per stores that were found in late 2007. However, it’s an increase over the 30 items per store that were found in June 2008.

“While results are better than they were a year ago, there was some slippage in the past six months,” said Gary Brown, director of Consumer Protection. “We’ll continue to do inspections to ensure that all stores in the county are removing outdated foods from their shelves.”

As part of the investigation, the department is seeking fines from stores that were found to be selling 10 or more items that were at least 4 days outdated. The department is seeking $25 for each item that was 4-6 days outdated, $50 for each item that was 7-9 days outdated, $75 for each item that was 10-30 days outdated, and $150 for each item that was 31 or more days outdated. Total fines amounted to $59,600. Stores may ask for a formal hearing to contest the fine.

The stores with the worst results in the prior survey fared better this time. Stop & Shop in Larchmont went from 129 outdated items to 21, Stop & Shop in North White Plains went from 123 to 53, and Stop & Shop in Peekskill went from 113 to 67.

The Department of Consumer Protection offered tips for consumers on how to avoid outdated items in the dairy case:

Store		Total No. of Outdated Items	4+ Days Outdated	31+ Days Outdated	Proposed Fine
A&J Met Food	New Rochelle	24	15	5	$1,400
A&P	Armonk	0	0	0	-
A&P	Bronxville	4	4	0	-*
A&P	Croton	3	1	0	-*
A&P	Eastchester	11	10	1	$425
A&P	Katonah	30	1	0	-*
A&P	Mamaroneck	9	4	0	-*
A&P	Millwood	7	4	1	-*
A&P	Mount Kisco	5	1	0	-*
A&P	New Rochelle	19	12	2	$700
A&P	Peekskill	15	10	2	$550
A&P	White Plains	56	36	1	$1,575
A&P	Yorktown	34	12	0	$850
C-Town	Eastchester	26	8	0	-*
C-Town	New Rochelle	67	39	5	$2,500
C-Town	Peekskill	58	50	3	$2,675
Costco	New Rochelle	0	0	0	-
D’Agostino’s	Chappaqua	5	5	0	-*
D’Agostino’s	Rye Brook	7	5	0	-*
Decicco	Ardsley	4	3	2	-*
Decicco	Bronxville	7	5	0	-*
Decicco	Jefferson Valley	5	5	0	-*
Food Emporium	Briarcliff**	14	14	3	$1,125
Food Emporium	New Rochelle	40	4	0	-*
Gristede’s	Pelham Manor	23	6	0	-*
Gristede’s	Scarsdale	93	63	1	$3,700
Kam Sen Foods	White Plains	46	43	15	$3,925
Morton Williams	Hartsdale	131	89	28	$7,775
Pathmark	Hartsdale	17	12	6	$1,350
Pathmark	Port Chester	271	165	4	$7,225
Pathmark	Yonkers	26	9	1	-*
Sam’s	Elmsford	10	0	0	-*
Save-a-Lot	Peekskill	23	21	7	$1,850
Shop Rite	Bedford Hills	6	5	0	-*
Shop Rite	Cortlandt Manor	20	0	0	-*
Shop Rite	Thornwood	5	3	1	-*
Stop & Shop	Dobbs Ferry	24	8	0	-*
Stop & Shop	Eastchester	61	33	1	$1,400
Stop & Shop	Larchmont	21	2	0	-*
Stop & Shop	New Rochelle	52	49	10	$3,450
Stop & Shop	N. White Plains	53	26	4	$2,175
Stop & Shop	Ossining	28	2	0	-*
Stop & Shop	Peekskill	51	29	0	$725
Stop & Shop	Peekskill***	67	24	1	$1,225
Stop & Shop	Port Chester	12	10	0	$750
Stop & Shop	White Plains	10	3	1	-*
Whole Foods Market		156	143	42	$12,250

Westchester County Department of Consumer Protection