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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Impostor scams were at the top of Consumer Complaints categories according to Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.

Over one hundred North Dakota residents fell victim to these scams, with individual victims losing thousands of dollars included in the “impostor scam” category are fake IRS calls, the phony grandchild in distress call, fake sweepstakes and romance scams. The Consumer Protection division has issued numerous warnings about these types of scams.

“It does not seem to matter how many times warnings are issued by this office and local law enforcement agencies, unfortunately, people still respond to the scams and lose money,” said Stenehjem.

The Top Ten consumer complaints for 2016 are:

1.         Impostor Scams (grandparent, romance, IRS scam, sweepstakes, etc) = 105

2.         Identity Theft = 101

3.         Do Not Call violations = 78

4.         Contractor/Home Improvement = 73

5.         Automotive (eg. advertising, extended warranties) = 54

6.         Mail Order problems = 33

7.         Retail = 28

8.         Services = 22

9.         Telephone (cramming, billing errors) = 18

10.       Debt Adjustment/Settlement, Credit Counseling = 10

Parrell Grossman, director of the Consumer Protection division, remind North Dakotan’s to never give out personal information or send money to an unexpected contact, don’t trust your Caller ID and if you’re asked to send or wire money to buy prepaid cash cards to stop. Those are sure signs of scams.