(HURON COUNTY, ON) – Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is reminding citizens to stay vigilant against scams, in particular, scams involving gift cards following a case involving a Goderich resident that was recently victimized.
On April 15, 2020 Huron OPP spoke with the victim and learned she fell victim to the iTunes gift card scam. In total this victim is out $800 cash and her faith in humanity has been taken a huge hit.
It all started when the victim in this case received an email from someone that she thought she knew and ultimately could trust. Unbeknownst to the victim the scammer utilized this person’s email address and passed themselves off as a potential client.
The scammer first requested the victim purchase $300 in gift cards that were supposed to be used for a birthday gift. The victim made the purchases and sent the authorization codes and pin numbers to the scammer as requested. Upon doing so the victim received another email from the scammer. This time they said the amount was supposed to be $800 so they requested she go out and purchase an additional $500 worth of iTunes gift cards to make up the difference. The victim did so thinking she was helping out this person and on the premise she would be paid back. Upon making the purchase the victim proceeded once again to send the scammer the authorization codes and pin numbers off the back of the gift cards. A third request was made by the scammer, this time the scammer requested an additional $1,300 in gift cards. This time the victim didn’t send the money and subsequently she contacted police.
The victim is in this case is out $800 and any possibility of this victim getting her money back is highly unlikely.
Gift card scams are very popular because they continue to work. Here are some things you should know. Scammers will use different ways to trick people into providing them with the authorization codes. They may ask for the gift cards in exchange to pay taxes, bail money, debt collection or for physical items.
Protect Yourself from Gift Card Scams
Never provide the numbers on the back of the card to someone you do not know. Once those numbers are provided to the scammers, the funds on the card will likely be spent before you are able to contact Apple or law enforcement. Other common gift card scams utilize Google Play or Steam cards.
Don’t become a statistic. Fraud is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that will only stop when the scammers stop getting money, banking information or personal information.
For more information on fraud, call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or http://www.antifraudcentre.ca
FRAUD – RECOGNIZE IT….REJECT IT .REPORT IT .