SCAM ALERT- Everett PD Warns of Gift Card Scams

The Everett Police Department has issued an alert to its citizens about an increase in scammers calling victims claiming to be from the government (usually the IRS) demanding immediate payment in gift-cards or else the victim will be arrested.

Over the past few years there has been an increase in publicity about various scams and frauds that use the telephone and internet to victimize people. The usual recommendation is to just hang up if you receive one of these phone calls. That is simple enough. And most people who receive these calls probably do that, a bit annoyed at receiving the call. But scammers do not need a high percentage of people to fall for their schemes to make money on these crimes.

The Everett PD warning shows that scammers are still active and are affecting your neighbors. It gave two examples of scams that recently victimized Everett citizens:

·         A Safeway store manager refused to issue a Google Play gift card when he found out that a 74 year old woman had been called by someone claiming to be from the IRS and saying that she owed $75,000 and needed to pay “today” or else she would be arrested and jailed.

·         In another case, an Everett citizen was told by a scammer that the government owed the citizen $10,000 in refunds. The citizen paid $1,500 for “transaction fees” with Google Play gift cards. Over several weeks, the scammer convinced the citizen to pay “additional fees’ totaling $60,000 which would allegedly increase the amount of the refund.

To a logical observer, these incidents may seem foolish. The victims should have known better. But scammers try to get their victims emotional, often called under the “ether,” so that the victim is not thinking critically or logically. They may use fear as in the first example or get the victim excited at receiving a big windfall as in the second example. Everett PD points out that many scammers start out nice then become aggressive, threatening and rude. And they only need a few people to fall under the ether to make money.

While most of us are probably aware of these scams there still may be some in your family or neighborhood who do not know that they could be victimized. Please let a family member or a neighbor know that scams occur and that hanging up on them is the easiest way to avoid becoming victimized.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has information about scams and a way to report scams so that investigators nationwide can investigate and charge scammers.

For more information about credit card scams go to https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/10/scammers-demand-gift-cards?fbclid=IwAR0_xMMYDwgkjVqYOVk0X0KVhDXo92L8Kz2CXv6IQ-AUrRSIMX6O2973bh8.



If you become a victim of a scam or identity theft, the FTC has an interactive checklist that you can use to recover at https://www.identitytheft.gov/?fbclid=IwAR2CBea0QWbIdHw13nDF510kedjMHZLcmIhQODdNdy6rEOpeFcX950X_Pl4



Everett Police Department:

https://www.facebook.com/EverettPoliceWA/photos/a.296828390366966/2170849776298142/?type=3&theater