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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Responding to reports that some older Americans have been victimized by crimes that play on fears of "the Y2K problem," Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder today unveiled Justice Department Web pages designed to help the public avoid Y2K scams. The new Web pages describe a number of illegal schemes that exploit fears of the Y2K bug, and propose ways for the public to respond to Y2K fraud.

For example, some criminals are taking advantage of worries that bank accounts will be inaccessible as of January 1, 2000. These schemes typically involve telemarketers pretending to be affiliated with a prospective victim's bank. The callers may ask for a bank account number, saying the victim's money can be moved into a 'safe account' or 'bond fund' to protect it from Y2K problems. Or they may ask for the victim's credit card number so that the victim can be sent a new magnetic strip that is supposedly 'Y2K compliant.'

Holder stressed that consumers should never give their bank account or credit card number to unknown callers because legitimate bank or credit card companies do not make calls asking for such information. Other schemes seek potential victims' social security numbers by posing as employees of the Social Security Administration. He pointed out that the schemes are not new - they are merely using the fear of Y2K to update their pitch to unsuspecting - and often elderly - targets.

"We may be entering the 21^st century," said Holder, "but these schemes are just dressing up old-fashioned telemarketing fraud in high-tech clothing. But old fashioned or high tech -- telemarketing fraud is a federal crime with stiff penalties. Consumers who receive these kinds of calls should hang up and call law enforcement to report the call."