Online predators are always on the hunt for new people to scam out of money and two area women learned the hard way that you have to be incredibly careful.
A Wheelersburg woman told the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office that she got a call from a company that claimed to be in partnership with Spectrum, and they sent her to Kroger to buy $570 in gift cards to pay her Internet bill.
Since she sent the gift cards to the callers, she did not pay her regular Spectrum bill, and the company billed her for her services.
Another woman contacted the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office to report she had received a Facebook message from someone who told her that she’d won grant money and that they were a lawyer who would help her claim it.
The woman responded to the message, and the alleged lawyer told her she would have to make payments to claim the grant and that those payments must be made with Apple Gift Cards. She purchased $7,000 worth of gift cards and sent them to the scammer.
In both cases, officers took information for a report, but there is very little police can do once the scammers receive the gift card numbers and use them.
Security experts advise that under no circumstances should you pay any kind of alleged bill in gift cards. This includes utility bills, back taxes, bail, fines…. ANYTHING. Gift cards are for giving gifts.
