BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) -Gift card scams are a common occurrence, and while the scam is simple, many still fall victim. We recently learned of a couple who lost five thousand dollars to scammers who asked for gift cards over the phone.
Scams like these aren’t new but often change over time to prey on those they view as vulnerable like the elderly or the disabled. The goal of these scams is to convince the victim to buy gift cards and read the code written on the back to the person on the other end of the phone. Police say that the people who run these scams may claim to be from the lottery, the IRS or law enforcement and may even threaten their victims with legal punishment. All of this is, of course, lies. Another scam involves pretending to be a loved one begging for money. They may even try to verify this false identity using personal information gathered from Facebook. Police take action against these scammers whenever possible but say that there are steps that you can take to prevent these scams from happening to you.
“Anytime that you get one of these calls, if you’re not sure who the call is from, actually call back. If they say they’re from the IRS, get a hold of the IRS. Say, hey, before I can do anything, I need to talk to the IRS first. And just to make sure this is who this person is. Call us. Call the police department up here and tell them what’s going on and say, hey this is the person that’s trying to contact me and what do you think I should…
