Message 4 of Message 5 of In response to kare-bearb. Message 7 of In response to d4ybr4ke Message 8 of You provided an interesting piece of info - gift card didn't work on mobile but did on PC. Message 9 of Message 10 of In response to berserkerplanet.
So we have another demonstration of why I shake my head at people who rely on mobile devices for everything. Message 11 of Message 12 of Message 13 of You may be running up against that. Message 14 of In response to blueboxvideos. Message 15 of Post Reply. About this board.
For news and more see: Payments resources Payments related questions? Self Help Videos:. Featured Posts Why are my funds on hold?
Common causes, and how to address them. Umm, not if you're getting scammed baby. On a side note, how in the world did these people know I had a weak spot for disabled people, arts and culture, social services, among other interests of mine? Did they pull my school file with my classes, discover past jobs I've had, google searches?
This is scary that people can find out our personal interests, desires, soft spots, or whatever and prey upon you like a hyena in the wild. I'm shook!!! So this morning was my first day and received my first assignment. So I'm basically getting the money I'm supposed to have in order to run the errands and complete the tasks. I've never been a PA before but this seems fine. I mean, it's not like I'm paying for anything using my own money.
He does everything by text message but initial communication was through email. He texts around 6 am in the morning saying he needs the first task done right away.
He wanted to know when I got to the atm, when I got to the store, when I was finished purchasing the cards, then wanted a picture of the receipts with each gift card scratched off. It sounded strange but I'd never heard or knew of gift card scams. I did wonder why he seemed rushed and keeping tabs on my every move until cards were purchased. I was thinking gosh this doctor is demanding and maybe that's why he needs a PA because nobody can put up with him.
From reading all the comments I know why this criminal was rushed. Said he would contact me with next assignment. I was thinking in a day or two. Nope, he contacts me later today and says his financial department emailed me another check and needed to deposit it right away.
I get home and deposit it via mobile phone again. He always asks for receipts of the checks, the deposits, and even for the business checks I purchased. I thought it was for filing, accounting, and tax purposes. Then he asks if I had extra cash to get part of my assignment done tonight. I ask what is the assignment and he states he needs more gift cards.
At this point my spidey senses are tingling and I'm starting to wonder whats going on. I already deposited the 2nd check "his company" sent and was waiting for it to clear in a few hours. Meanwhile, while trying to purchase them my bank detected fradulent activity so froze my account. I'm so glad they did this because this caused me to call them and while doing that the manager of the store was at the front counter this time.
He mentioned to me how these cards are being used in scams. He said people ask for the codes on the back via phone or online.
I still was uncertain because of how I came across this person and went to my car to call him. I wanted clarification on things, verification of who he was, and wanted him to list these "supposed" tasks I was supposed to complete.
No answer and I tried several times. Let me also mention that he kept texting me and even called me while I was still at the store trying to reach my bank and find out what the problem was. When I answered the phone twice, twice there was no response but he would text me right after. As to verify I was still there and reachable but couldn't talk on the phone because of being overseas and reception bs. He insisted I send pictures of the 7 now and send pictures of the other 3 right after I purchased them.
I said I'd get the other 3 and send pictures of all 10 together. He said no and wanted them now. That was the straw that broke the camels back and I knew something was not right about this situation.
I smelled a fishy situation and I was not in a seafood joint. My gut was tugging at me and I said screw this, I'm going home. So after many back and forth texts with this guy I told him I believed he is a fraud, he can't verify who he is, I'm calling my school first thing in the morning, I'm calling the police, and starting calling numbers and searching online for gift card scams.
I'm mortified at the results which ultimately lead me here. I called Amazon and the first batch of cards were already used. No surprise there. I'm at least glad I followed my instincts when it came to using my own money and snapped out of the daze of stupidity and didn't give him the information for the 2nd batch of cards. I feel like such an idiot. Hi, this same thing happened to me.
I am a low-income student also, so I know how good of a position it sounded like. I didn't cash the check though. I actually asked the person for two pieces of identification so that I could verify her identity, but she just asked me why I needed it and that she would be back in town next month to conduct the interview.
She wanted me to perform the tasks of buying and snapping pictures of gift cards. Yeah, right. I reported the incident immediately after they started talking about gift cards. If I can help it, I refuse to be anybody's fool. Everybody, beware of things that seem too good to be true. That's so good and right of you to protect customers this way.
The big companies who know people get scammed this way need to learn from you and have cashiers and their online stores advise that email requests to buy a card can come directly from a family or friend's email address, but be fraudsters who have hacked that email account. If anyone calls me demanding some kind of payment with a gift card all they will get is me laughing and hanging up.
Then the number gets blocked. Easy way to reduce telephone scammers is to use an answering machine. We get a lot of callers who just hang up when the machine kicks in. A lot cheaper than being scammed out of your life savings. I work at Target and after less than a year I have personally turned away 3 older people trying to buy gift cards for large amounts. We who work in retail can put a stop to this by doing our due diligence.
Ask questions when someone wants to buy large amounts of gift cards. One lady kept getting calls from her "grandson" while she was trying to convince me he needed the money. I told her it wasn't money, these giftcards can only be used at Target. I told her to please right away call the parent of this grandchild who was her son or daughter. The "grandson" was trying to keep her on the phone so she couldn't call anyone.
In the end she left promising to make that call. I did what I could. They even told her that she shouldn't let anybody know about this. Certain types of scams seem to lend themselves to illicit requests for gift cards, according to the FTC.
Here are the most common ways gift cards were used fraudulently during the first nine months of the year:. The FTC is partnering with retailers nationwide to prevent consumers from losing money to gift card scams. Here's more on the campaign. When eBay became a hot commodity for fraudsters this year, it knocked Google Play gift cards out of the top spot, the FTC says.
Not only are fraudsters specifying the brand of gift card they want, they are also telling people where to buy them, says the FTC, which identified Walmart, Target, Walgreens and CVS as likely venues. The statement was lightly edited for length:.
Criminals often exploit well-known, trusted brand names like eBay to attract consumers and then lure them onto fake websites and into fraudulent transactions. Join today and get instant access to discounts, programs, services, and the information you need to benefit every area of your life.
Note: We are currently in the process of replacing our commenting service, so it may take a few days for previous comments to appear. Login or register on AARP. Maybe you just want the cash. John Breyault, the NCL vice president who manages the site, said people run into trouble when they try to sell their unwanted cards on Craigslist or eBay or by responding to offers on social media.
The victim is left without any money and a useless piece of plastic. The smart and safe way to sell unwanted gift cards is to use a well-known legitimate gift card exchange, such as Giftcards.
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