Gift Card Scam Dupes Woman In Stafford: Police

STAFFORD, VA—A woman in the area of Shasta Place was conned out of more than $800 in a gift card scam after being promised $1 million, a new car and a new house, the Stafford County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

She told police she was contacted by someone claiming to represent a Nevada-based charity who said she had been selected to receive a prize that included the aforementioned items. But first, she had to pay a $400 processing fee with gift cards.

After doing so and providing the caller with the card numbers, she was told she needed to buy another $450 in gift cards to "process her prize." Once again, she did just that and provided the card information. Not until she failed to receive her prizes over the next several days did she realized she had been scammed.

The Federal Trade Commission has tips to avoid such scams, which are becoming more and more common:

• Gift cards are for gifts, not for payments. If someone calls with urgent news or a convincing story and then pressures you to pay them by buying a gift card, like an iTunes or Google Play card, and then giving them the codes on the back of the card – stop. It’s a scam.
• Gift cards are the number one payment method that impostors demand. They might pose as IRS officials and say you’re in trouble for not paying taxes; or a family member with an emergency; or a public utility company threatening to shut off your water; or even a service member selling something before deployment. Or they might call with great news – you’ve won a contest or a prize! But to get it, you need to pay fees with a gift card. Scammers will say anything to get your money. And they know how to play into your fears, hopes, or sympathies. They like gift cards because, once they’ve got the code on the back, the money is gone and almost impossible to trace. But knowing how these scams work can help you avoid them, and you can help even more by passing on the information to people you know.
• If you paid a scammer with a gift card, report it as soon as possible. Call the card company and tell them the gift card was used in a scam. Here is contact information for some of the gift card companies that scammers use most often. Then, tell the FTC about it – or any other scam – at ftc.gov/complaint. Your reports may help law enforcement agencies launch investigations that could stop impostors and other fraudsters in their tracks.