There are currently various scams going around that target our community and involve alleged unpaid utilities, IRS debt, family members in jail, etc. The scammer calls the victim on the phone and will agree to remedy the alleged debt, and then offers a solution by way of the targeted victim purchasing gift cards. Once the victim buys the gift cards and activates them, the scammer instructs the victim to provide the serial number of the gift cards to the scammer.
The scammer then takes the value of the gift cards, and the victim receives nothing in exchange. The scammers utilize false identities, phone numbers and email addresses, so the investigation into these incidents is quite complicated and many times the incidents go unsolved. Scams such as this have become fairly popular and several people in our community have fallen victim.
This email is intended to alert you to the problem, inform you that we are working with the community and our business owners to combat the scam, and to ask you to please share this information with your neighborhood watch community, and with your friends and family in an effort to minimize potential victims.
Additional information can be located on the below flyer.
