SPRING TWP., Pa. — Police in Berks County are warning people about more scams involving gift cards.
“Victim numbers range anywhere from 20 years old to 70, 80 years old,” said Det. Sgt. Robert Long, Spring Township Police Department.
The department had a few reports over the weekend of people falling prey to a scam. They were told they would receive a 50% discount on Comcast service over the next two years if they provided gift cards.
“We see this happen a lot with scams,” Long said. “Gift cards are used in a multitude of different scams, from Facebook marketplace to IRS authority scams.”
He said the scammers use gift cards because they’re difficult to track, and they can get the money from them very quickly.
“They usually transfer through 1, 2, 3 different accounts, sometimes to Crypto currency,” Long explained, “making it more and more difficult to find out where the money actually went and where these calls came from.”
Many types of scams tend to target the most vulnerable populations that may not have a lot of money, and Long said it’s often impossible to recover lost funds. Arrests are also unlikely.
“It’s just usually not somebody that we can identify,” Long said.
He added that the best thing people can do is be aware. His department and several other do seminars and are always trying to inform the public.
“Nobody’s ever going to ask you to…
