SULLIVAN COUNTY — A Sullivan County resident has fallen victim to a gift card scam that is a common practice of fraudsters nationwide.
Around Dec. 3, 2022, the victim tried to buy a vehicle transmission on Facebook Marketplace from an unknown individual, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
The victim purchased $1,000 in Apple gift cards and read the card information to the scammer over the telephone, according to the police report. Afterwards, the victim never received the transmission and was unable to make contact with the unknown individual.
Anyone with information in connection with this incident should contact Trooper Derek Martin at PSP Laporte by calling 570-946-4610.
To better protect consumers from scammers, the Federal Trade Commission has provided a variety of tips to help people spot scams and avoid becoming victims of fraud. The FTC seeks to “stop deceptive and unfair business practices and scams, and to help consumers” understand and become aware of scams, according to its website.
“Gift cards are for gifts, not for payments. As soon as someone tells you to pay them with a gift card, that’s a scam,” according to the FTC. “Gift cards are popular with scammers because they’re easy for people to find and buy. They also have fewer protections for buyers compared to some other payment options. They’re more like cash:…
