The latest local news, weather and high school sports in and around Columbia and Jefferson City

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- Attorney General Chris Koster released the top 10 consumer complaints and scams reported to his office in 2010.

Coming in at number 10 is a scam that topped last year’s list.

Automobile warranty and service contracts had 624 complaints last year.

They varied from misleading information to telemarketers selling products.

"One of the areas that we've seen a significant decline is the auto service contract complaints,” Chief Counsel of the Consumer Protection District Doug Omen said. “They were number one last year far and away. I think both in due to our consumer protection efforts as well as the enforcement actions that the attorney general's office has pursued, they've nearly dropped off the list, they've dropped to the very bottom of the top 10."

Coming in at number nine is automobile repair, number eight is cable and satellite services and at number seven is prepaid funeral scams.

Rounding off the bottom five are scams involving lotteries and sweepstakes.

Scam artists often use the promise of valuable prizes to get consumers to send money, buy overpriced goods or contribute to bogus charities.

Number 5 is home repairs which Ommen said is an area consumers are still having a hard time with.

"Consumers should be very careful as we move into the spring season to be mindful of the need to go on our website and determine whether we've had previous complaints against any contractor as well as contact our office should there be any suspicious behavior," Ommen said.

Scams dealing with mortgage loan modifications came in fourth and in third is telephone cramming with nearly 1,500 complaints.

"Telephone cramming was very high this year which really surprised us," Ommen said. "The good thing about the increase in complaints is consumers are getting wise to the telephone cramming scam because most often those types of charges are undetected."

Scams involving credit and debit cards came in second place.

And Ommen said the scam that tops the list for 2010 with over 2,200 complaints might surprise you.

"I think people will be surprised of the debt collection complaints,” Ommen said.  “The reason I say that is because the Attorney General's office traditionally has not been involved in prosecution of abusive practices by debt collectors but the complaints are just, they're very very high. In fact they total over 2,000."

Consumers who filed the complaints said they were harassed by debt collectors for debts they might not even owe.

Others said the agencies are abusive and threatening.

Ommen said the scams reflect the economy's financially stressed consumers who easily become prey for scammers.

The attorney general's office encourages consumers to file complaints with its consumer protection hotline at 800-392-8222 so the office can help mediate a complaint, investigate scams and take legal action if necessary. 

You can also visit their website at ago.mo.gov.