BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. – December 9, 2022 – Scam artists are out in full force during the holiday season to take advantage of people’s generosity and busy schedules. The Bullhead City Police Department urges people to be cautious and simply hang up and call the number you know to be legitimate. Never give any money or personal information, unless you initiated the contact.
A 77-year-old Bullhead City woman was recently defrauded out of over $30,000 by purchasing gift cards. The victim reported that she received a message that her computer was infected with a virus. She called the number provided for assistance. The scam artist asked for all her bank account information so he could make them aware of the hacking on her behalf. He said that she needed to follow his instructions and keep things a secret in order to save her money in her accounts. She spent two days withdrawing cash from her bank accounts and purchased thousands of dollars worth of gift cards from local stores. She then called the scammer and gave him all the gift card and pin numbers. She reported that stores even warned her about scams and asked if she was being forced to buy the gift cards.
Here are some red flags to help identify most scams:
- The caller is located outside of the country.
- You are asked to send money via wire transfer, prepaid credit cards, gift cards or other suspicious methods that are untraceable!
- You are threatened something bad will happen if you do not…
