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In an effort to make young people aware of the tragedy of elder abuse, Attorney General Terry Goddard, the Arizona Area Agencies on Aging and the Arizona Elder Abuse Coalition have partnered to sponsor the 2010 “Why Should I Care about Elder Abuse?” student arts competition.

“This is the second year we have held this competition, and it has helped increase attention to elder abuse,” said Goddard. “While my office continues to prosecute those who commit this crime, only through awareness can we stop abuse before it begins.”

High school juniors throughout Arizona are invited to create an original artwork illustrating the question, “Why Should I Care about Elder Abuse?” This contest will help spotlight the need to protect their grandparents, friends and neighbors. Elder abuse includes financial fraud or exploitation, neglect and physical abuse. It is one of the most underreported crimes in Arizona.

Entries are due February 17, 2010, at your local Area Agency on Aging. Regional winners will be announced in March. Local area contest winners will receive first, second and third place prizes of $100, $75, and $50. Three winners from each Area Agency on Aging will then compete for statewide prizes. Statewide contest winners will receive first, second and third place prizes of $500, $250, and $100, and six honorable mentions will receive $25.

Winning artworks will also be used on a poster to promote a statewide elder abuse awareness campaign held to coincide with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, 2010.

RULES:

• Arizona high school juniors are eligible to enter.

• An Entry Form must be attached to each contest
entry

• All entries must be received by 5 p.m. on February
17, 2010 to your local Area Agency on Aging.

• Winners of the local competition will be announced
March 2010.

• These 3 winners will be sent on to the state
competition.

• Winners of the State Competition will be announced
in April 2010.

• The winning artists will have the opportunity to
appear in promotional activities, including press
conferences and interviews.

• The winning artworks will be incorporated into a fullsized
poster for use in a statewide Elder Abuse
Awareness campaign.

Elder Abuse Prev. 2010 Contest Flyer General.pdf
Elder Abuse Prev. 2010 Student Arts Contest Entry Form 2010.pdf

For additional information, contest rules and to find your local Area Agency on Aging, go to www.azag.gov .

With the first big day of the holiday shopping season coming on “Black Friday,” November 27, followed by “Cyber Monday” on November 30, Attorney General Terry Goddard today offered his top five tips for holiday shoppers. “In this time of tight budgets for most Arizona families, it is especially important to be alert to scams and other consumer pitfalls this holiday season,” Goddard said.

Goddard also said that his Office has launched its holiday Web page on www.azag.gov which provides answers to common questions about holiday shopping, charitable giving and other consumer concerns. Shopping tips and alerts will be released and posted on the site each week throughout the season.

Attorney General Terry Goddard’s Top 5 Tips for Holiday Shopping

(1) Check recall notices before buying children’s products
Monday’s recall of more than one million drop-side cribs is an unfortunate reminder of the need to pay close attention to federal recalls when buying toys and other children’s products this holiday season.
How to protect yourself: Visit www.recalls.gov before purchasing children’s products to ensure the item has not been recalled. You can sign up to receive federal recall notices at www.cpsc.gov . Also, check the manufacturer’s suggested age restrictions before purchasing a toy or other gift for a child.


(2) Bring ads for sales and “special deals” with you to the store
Advertising a set of sales or “deals” and then refusing to honor the terms of the advertisement is deceptive advertising and illegal in Arizona. Consumers using holiday sales and coupons should be careful that the specials advertised are the same in the stores.
How to protect yourself: Bring ads with you to the stores to see if prices charged match advertised prices. When checking out, watch the cash register display to be sure the scanned price matches the advertised or posted price. Check your receipt for accuracy before leaving the store. If you have pricing questions, ask to see the store’s pricing error policy. If you feel you were misled or deceived by a company, file a consumer complaint with the Attorney General’s Office at www.azag.gov .

(3) Do online shopping at secure Web sites

Using “secure” Web sites will help ensure that personal information, such as your name, address and credit card number, is transmitted to the merchant safely, without being intercepted by a third party.
How to protect yourself: Identify secure Web sites by looking for Web addresses that begin with “https” and look for a small padlock at the bottom of the page. Credit cards are still preferred over debit cards for online shopping security.

(4) Watch out for restocking fees

Some stores will charge you a percentage of the price for “restocking” an item that you return for refund or credit. These fees most often apply to larger purchases such as furniture, electronic equipment or appliances. If a business charges a restocking fee, it should disclose the fee in print advertising and promotional materials as well as post a clearly visible notice disclosing the fee and how consumers can obtain the full restocking fee policy.
How to protect yourself: Before making a purchase, ask if the store charges a restocking fee. If so, make sure you understand the full cost and restocking policy.

(5) Save all receipts, warranties and service agreements

Having printed copies of receipts, warranties and service agreements helps you negotiate any refunds or exchanges should you have a problem or decide to return the product.
How to protect yourself: Request warranties and service contracts in writing and save receipts from all of your purchases. Bring them with you if you need a refund, exchange or repair.

Attorney General’s Holiday Consumer Web Page

The Attorney General’s Office just launched its holiday shopping Web page dedicated to helping consumers get the most enjoyment and value out of their holiday season shopping.

The site, which can be found by going to www.azag.gov , includes a list of resources for holiday gift giving, tips to protect yourself from identity thieves and tools to research your charitable donations and ensure the gifts you buy are safe for those who receive them.

“Black Friday” is the day retailers hope to start turning a profit for the year, going from being in the “red” to the “black.” And “Cyber Monday” recognizes the high volume of Internet sales that customarily happen the Monday following Thanksgiving.

If you believe you have been a victim of fraud, please contact the Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix at 602.542.5763; in Tucson at 520.628.6504; or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at 1.800.352.8431. To file a complaint in person, the Attorney General’s Office has satellite offices throughout the state with volunteers available to help. Locations and hours of operation are posted on the Attorney General’s Web site, www.azag.gov . Consumers can also file complaints online by visiting the Web site.

Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that National City Neighborhood, LLC, Frank J. Konarski, Gabriela Konarski, Frank E. Konarski, Patricia Konarski, and John F. Konarski, the owners and managers of the FGPJ Apartments in Tucson, will pay $150,000 to settle a fair housing lawsuit.

The settlement resolves allegations that the apartments’ owners and managers denied James Larcom an accessible parking space, failed to make repairs to the electrical sockets in his apartment for proper operation of medical equipment, including oxygen tanks, and failed to provide him with a medical release from the lease. The lawsuit also alleges that the complex threatened Larcom and his wife, Sabrina Ezell, and their children with immediate eviction because Ezell made a fair housing complaint to the Attorney General’s Office.

During the investigation of the family’s complaint, the State filed a request for a temporary restraining order, asking Pima County Superior Court to restrain the landlord from evicting the family until they could secure other suitable housing or the Division could complete its investigation. The court granted the restraining order and the family found other permanent housing where Larcom could use his medical equipment. The Civil Rights Division investigated the complaint and found reasonable cause to believe the FGPJ Apartments discriminated and then retaliated against the residents in violation of the Arizona Fair Housing Act. The State filed its lawsuit in June 2007.

The settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing. It requires the owners and management of the FGPJ Apartments to:

* Pay $100,000 to James Larcom and Sabrina Ezell and their attorney.

* Pay $50,000 to the Arizona Civil Rights Division for enforcement of civil rights laws in Arizona.

* Agree to request that the Pima County Justice Court vacate the eviction the FGPJ owners pursued against Larcom and Ms. Ezell.

* Dismiss numerous claims made against the State, its employees, and Larcom and Ezell.

* Provide written notice of fair housing laws to their existing and future tenants.

* Agree to abide by the State’s fair housing laws.

The settlement — one of the largest the Division has entered into in a housing discrimination case — was entered as a consent decree that was approved by Pima County Superior Court Judge Paul Tang. Assistant Attorneys General Rose Daly-Rooney and Cathleen Dooley represented the State in this case.

The Arizona Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on a person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability. It is unlawful for a landlord to refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services if the accommodation may be necessary to afford the person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. It is also unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with any person in the enjoyment of or exercise of their housing rights.

If you believe that your civil rights have been violated, you can contact the Civil Rights Division to file a fair housing complaint at 602.542.5263 (Phoenix), 602.542.5002 (TTY), 877.491.5742 (toll free), and 877.624.8090 (toll free TTY). You may also visit one of the Attorney General’s satellite offices or file a complaint online. For more information about filing a complaint online or the hours or location of satellite offices, please visit www.azag.gov.

Attorney General Terry Goddard today called on Health Net, a Connecticut-based insurance company, to immediately notify its Arizona policyholders whose personal, medical and financial information was either lost or stolen in a data breach that occurred six months ago.

He said further that his Office will open an investigation to determine whether a state law requiring prompt notification was violated.

Health Net notified the Arizona Department of Insurance on Wednesday that a hard drive containing personal data on some 316,000 present and former Arizona policyholders has been missing since May from the company’s headquarters in Shelton, Conn. The company has yet to contact the affected policyholders about the breach, however, saying it plans to send letters to them soon.

“Health Net’s failure to notify its customers after all this time appears inexcusable,” Goddard said. “The breach apparently includes sensitive personal health information as well as financial information that could put people at risk of identity theft. There can be no further delay; the company needs to provide notification as quickly as possible.”

Arizona law requires notification of individuals affected by an unauthorized acquisition and access of computerized personal information “in the most expedient manner possible and without unreasonable delay.”

Goddard said a letter citing that law was sent to the company Thursday. It also requests additional information about the data breach. A copy of the letter is attached.

Health Net said it will provide free credit monitoring for two years for all affected customers who request it. The company said it has not received any reports so far of misused data.

A company spokeswoman said the missing hard drive contains Social Security numbers, medical records and health information going back to 2002 for 1.5 million past and present customers in four states: Arizona, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Health Net is one of the country’s largest publicly traded managed care companies with some 6.6 million customers across the country.
A Health Net spokeswoman said customers with questions could call the company phone number on the back of their benefits card.

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Arizona consumers can protect themselves against ID theft by monitoring their credit reports to determine if someone has applied for or obtained credit in their name. Provisions in the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act provide Arizonans with the opportunity to receive free copies of their credit reports once a year from each of three national credit reporting companies.

To obtain the credit reports at no cost, consumers can contact a centralized source:

Telephone: 1.877.322.8228
Online: www.annualcreditreport.com
Mail: Complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form available at www.ftc.gov and mail to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

To maximize the benefits of the free credit reports, consumers should consider spacing out their requests over a 12-month period, requesting a report from a different credit reporting agency every four months. Please note that if you contact one of the three companies without using the phone number or addresses listed above, you could be charged for the report.

Attorney General Terry Goddard announced a $3 million, multi-state settlement with VONAGE, one of the nation’s largest providers of an Internet-based phone service known as “Voice over Internet Protocol.” The settlement requires VONAGE to make significant changes to its marketing practices, to honor consumer cancellation requests and provide refunds to eligible customers.

The settlement addresses complaints of consumers who said they had difficulty or complete inability to cancel their VONAGE service. VONAGE formerly paid incentives to customer service representatives for retaining or “saving” customers in lieu of cancellation when consumers called to cancel. As a result, consumers reported that cancellation was extremely difficult and sometimes impossible. Today’s agreement puts strict limitations on this practice and requires recording and verification of these telephone calls.

The settlement also addresses a number of other marketing practices, which have led to consumer confusion over the cost of VONAGE equipment and service. Under the agreement, VONAGE will be revising its disclosures regarding the offer of “free” services, money-back guarantees and trial periods.

Further, the settlement puts in place a broad restitution plan requiring VONAGE to make refunds to eligible consumers who filed complaints regarding unauthorized charges from January 2004 to March 16, 2010, which have not been resolved.

“We cannot allow companies to ignore their customers’ legal rights,” Goddard said. “Consumers must be treated with decency and not put off or prevented from canceling their phone service.”

Goddard was joined by 31 other state Attorneys General in this settlement.

If you believe you are eligible to receive restitution, please contact the Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix at 602.542.5763, in Tucson at 520.628.6504, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at 1.800.352.8431. Consumers can also file complaints online by visiting the Attorney General’s Web site at www.azag.gov . To file a complaint in person, the Attorney General’s Office has satellite offices throughout the state with volunteers available to help. Locations and hours of operation are posted on the Attorney General’s Web site.

Attorney General Terry Goddard and law enforcement officials from across the state are inviting Arizona seventh and eighth graders to participate in the ARIZONA METH PROJECT’S annual “Meth NOT EVEN ONCE” poster contest to raise awareness of the dangers methamphetamine abuse.

“Our statewide efforts to cut meth use among teens have shown results, but we still have a long way to go,” said Goddard. “It is my hope that by giving youth the opportunity to reach out to one another, we can do even more to fight this devastating drug.”

Kingman Police Chief Robert DeVries said of the program, “The partnership between law enforcement and prevention efforts such as the ARIZONA METH PROJECT and community coalitions has really helped prevent first time meth use. This contest is a great opportunity for young people to join this effort.”

Poster submissions must be received by 5 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2010.

Contest results will be announced in February. Contest winners will receive first, second and third place prizes of $500, $350 and $100. There will also be honorable mention prizes, courtesy of local retailers. This is the first year that 7th graders will be eligible to participate in the contest.

The winning submissions will be printed on a full-sized poster and used throughout 2010 in the ARIZONA METH PROJECT’s statewide public awareness campaign.

For additional information and contest rules, go to www.azag.gov .

2010 Meth NOT EVEN ONCE Poster Contest Information:
http://www.azag.gov/StopMeth/PosterContest/2010/Meth%20Info%20Flyer%202010.pdf

2010 Meth NOT EVEN ONCE Poster Contest Entry Form
http://www.azag.gov/StopMeth/PosterContest/2010/Meth%20Poster%20entry%20form%202010.pdf