Gift-Card Scammers Steal Thousands From Newtown Twp. Residents

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — Newtown Township police are warning local residents about several gift card scams that netted $9,500 from two residents.

A 76-year-old woman called police on the morning of Aug. 7 after she sent $7,500 in prepaid gift cards to someone posing as an Amazon employee, according to police reports.

The woman told police she received an email that appeared to be from Amazon, which said she had purchased a computer on her account. The woman called the phone number included in the email to report the unexpected purchase and get a refund, which set the scam in motion, police said.

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The scammer told the woman they had accidentally refunded $7,500 to her account instead of $750, then directed her to purchase and send them $7,500 in prepaid gift cards “to prevent them from being fired,” according to police reports.

The resident sent the gift cards to the scammer “even though store employees tried to warn her that it was a scam,” police said.

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Newtown Township police were called Aug. 11 to investigate a similar scam, in which a 70-year-old resident sent $2,000 in prepaid gift cards to someone posing as her church’s archbishop.

The “archbishop” sent her an email asking for the gift cards to “reward people for doing good deeds,” police said. The woman bought 10 gift cards and emailed the cards’ information to the “archbishop” before realizing it was a scam, police said.

The Newtown Township Police Department issued a public service announcement Friday to warn residents of the gift card scams, an increasingly popular fraud in recent years that often targets older and more vulnerable residents.

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If residents receive a call or email asking for payment by gift cards, “know that it’s a scam,” police said. Residents should immediately report these calls and emails to local police and the Federal Trade Commission.

“Never provide your gift card number and PIN to anyone you don’t know,” the public service announcement said. “Once those numbers are gone, so is your money.”

Residents should not open email attachments or click on links unless they are certain they came from a legitimate source, police said, encouraging people to search online for business records and reviews if they are unsure.