An old scam zeroing in on the vulnerable is once more making the rounds within the community. St. Albert RCMP were notified this week of a credit card fraud that nearly succeeded in scamming a senior of $2,000.
Basically, a scammer alerts an individual that their credit card is compromised. The fraudster could also state the victim owes money to Revenue Canada or they might pose as a boss. Alternatively, they could also state they have a high-ranking title from a business.
In order to catch the criminals, the individual is asked to pay their outstanding debt or assist the boss/business/company. The fraudster then asks the victim to purchase a certain amount of prepaid gift cards such as Google Play, Xbox, Amazon or Apple.
Fraudsters will then ask victims to provide personalized numbers on the back of prepaid gift cards. That allows the scammer to obtain the card's cash value and purchase things on the Internet or sell the gift cards to others.
Believing their credit card was compromised, a St. Albert senior was asked to purchase $2,000 worth of prepaid Google Play cards this past week. A quick-thinking employee at a local business recognized something was not right and did not authorize the transaction. Instead, the employee referred the senior to RCMP.
St. Albert RCMP want to remind the public that if anyone is telephoned or emailed by someone requesting a purchase of prepaid gift cards, no matter who it is or what it’s for, ignore the call.
If a person is a victim of fraud or would like information on all fraudulent scams in Canada, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
Anyone with information of a crime is asked to contact St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or at www.3Tips.com.
