Never send money or gifts to anyone you haven’t met in person - even if they send you money first. This romance scammer makes up any story to trick you into sending them gift cards. You meet someone special on a dating website, but then they need money and ask you to help them.They say there’s something wrong with your computer and you have to pay them to get it fixed. Someone calls from tech support, maybe saying they’re from Apple or Microsoft.

They say you have to pay taxes or a fine. The caller says they’re from the government - maybe the IRS or the Social Security Administration.Here’s a list of common gift card scams and schemes: If you know how to spot their tactics, you’ll be able to avoid the scam, and help others spot and avoid it. Only scammers try to convince you to pay with gift cards. You’ll lose your money, and you won’t be able to get it back. The card number and PIN on the back of the card let the scammer get the money you loaded onto the card. The caller asks you for the gift card number and PIN.And the caller might stay on the phone with you while you go to the store and load money onto the card. Sometimes they tell you to buy cards at several stores, so cashiers won’t get suspicious. They might send you to a specific store - often Walmart, Target, CVS, or Walgreens. They might say to put money on an eBay, Google Play, Target, or iTunes gift card. The caller usually tells you which gift card to buy.

They want to scare or pressure you into acting quickly, so you don’t have time to think or talk to someone you trust. They say you have to pay right away or something terrible will happen. Scammers may tell you different stories to get you to pay them with gift cards, but this is what usually happens: And once they have the gift card number and the PIN, they have your money. If someone calls and asks that you pay them with gift cards, that’s a scammer calling. They’re more like cash: once you use a gift card, the money on it is gone. They also have fewer protections for buyers compared to some other payment options. Gift cards are popular with scammers because they’re easy for people to find and buy. As soon as someone tells you to pay them with a gift card, that’s a scam. Gift cards are for gifts, not for payments.

What To Do If You Paid a Scammer with Gift Cards.

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