Scams are after black elderly identity theft, attorney general says

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Hoax letters have been mailed to elderly black people across the South over the past three weeks, telling them they may be eligible for $5,000 in slave reparations or Social Security reimbursements.

The letters, which include requests for Social Security numbers, are apparently part of a scam aimed at stealing people's identities and running up credit bills under their names, Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor said Monday.

''What they are really trying to get is personal information from seniors,'' he said.

The slave reparations letter, in all capital letters on plain white paper, is targeted at those born ''prior to the year of 1928 and of the black ethnic race.'' It suggests that the federal government is seeking individuals entitled to payments under a supposed ''Slave Reparation Act.''

The other letter is targeted at people born between 1917 and 1926. It says these ''notch babies'' are due $5,000 apiece because of a glitch in Social Security collections.

People born between those years may indeed be getting less Social Security money because of the way the retirement program was set up, but Congress has not been able to fix the error, Pryor said.

The letter plays on those congressional attempts, saying: ''There is a measure attempting to be passed, but you must be registered in order to receive it.''

Both letters, which were also circulated in black churches and senior centers, instruct people to submit their name, address, telephone number and Social Security number to the ''National Victims Registrar'' in Washington. The payments would be added to future government benefits checks or issued in a lump sum, the letters promise.

With the requested information, crooks can assume others' identities.

Pryor said that he knows of no case yet where someone's identity had been stolen in the scam, but that people who have submitted their information should contact the Social Security Administration and check their credit report.