The "My State E-Mail Address is Broken" Scam

Newsday has a story on the record-keeping and security troubles at the NY State Office of Children and Family Services. A report from the State Inspector General offered this example: An Oakdale man, along with a teenage daughter, had been accused of abusing a younger daughter. The charges were unsubstantiated, but, according to the report, he contacted Verizon, claiming he was a state employee and asked to see the log of calls to the abuse hotline. "The [Verizon] employee sent the phone numbers to the man's AOL e-mail address because, she told state investigators, he told her his New York State e-mail address was 'broken.'" The report adds that the man "demanded cash from state officials in return for destroying the phone records." The man said he never pretended to be a state employee, adding, "It wasn't extortion. I said I'd like to have some kind of settlement for libeling and slandering our family's name."