The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office reported that it has recently received several complaints involving e-mail scams that have been coming from several different e-mail providers and often appear to be sent from a family member, friend, legitimate company or a governmental agency asking the recipient to purchase gift cards to pay them.
The department state that no real business or government agency will ask recipients to buy a gift card to pay them, and the Sheriff’s Office stated that those who purchase gift cards for anyone should always keep a copy of their gift card and store recipient to use to report gift card scams to the gift card company to request money back. The department stated that typically, once the card information is sent to the scammer, law enforcement is unable to recover any of the funds.
The department stated that gift card scams typically begin with a call, text, email or social media messages, and scammers may say almost anything to persuade the recipient to buy gift cards, such as Google Play, Apple or Amazon gift cards amongst others. The scammer will ask for the recipient to send the card number and PIN codes from the back of the card.
The department outlined common tactics utilized by the scammers, such as urgency in the message where scammers may state that they must receive the information or something terrible will happen, which is a ploy to ensure that the recipient has limited time to think about the situation or talk to someone they trust. Scammers may also state which gift card to puy, which may be on an eBay, Google Play, Target or Apple gift card, and they may send the recipient to a specific store, such as Walmart, Target, CVS or Walgreens. The scammer may request the purchase of gift cards at several stores to ensure that cashiers will not become suspicious, and the scammer might want to stay on the phone with the recipient of the message while they enter the store and load money onto the cards.
The department state that scammers will ask for the gift card number and the PIN, which will let the scammer get the money that was loaded onto the card regardless of whether they have the physical card. The department stated to never give those numbers to an untrusted person.
Common Gift Card Scams:
Scammers tell different stories to get you to buy gift cards so they can steal your money. Here are some common gift card scams:
- Scammers say they’re from the government.
- Scammers say they’re from tech support.
- Scammers say they’re a friend or family members with an emergency.
- Scammers say you’ve won a prize.
- Scammers say they’re from your utility company.
- Scammers ask for money after they chat you up on a dating website.
- Scammers send a check for way more than you expected. They tell you to deposit the check and give them the difference on a gift card.
The department stated that those who have fallen victim to the scam should utilize their gift card and gift card store receipt to report the gift card scam to the gift card company immediately regardless of how long ago the scam occurred. Victims should ask for their money back as some companies are attempting to help stop gift card scams and may give the money back.
Lastly, victims should immediately contact the Sheriff’s Office or a local law enforcement agency to report the scam.
