Watch out for those gift card scams
Dear John: I am the victim of grand larceny. I was threatened with jail time and the loss of my home and employment due to overdue taxes.
Having never heard of this type of fraud and having never been in trouble with the law, I was very scared and, unfortunately, paid my debt with thousands of dollars in Apple gift cards. I keep getting told there is nothing I can do.
As a new reader of your column, I am hoping you can use your power to, not get my thousands back, but maybe get Apple to compensate me. Maybe they can compensate me with a laptop computer, which I can certainly use.
Thank you for your consideration. D.D.
Dear D.D.: It’s too bad you haven’t been reading me for a longer period of time. I addressed this exact scam in an August 2016 column.
Let me make this suggestion to everyone. If someone calls your house and aggressively demands money, especially to be paid in an unusual way like with Apple gift cards, tell them to kiss your behind and hang up.
And if the original caller puts someone on the line who they say is in charge, tell that person to kiss your behind as well. Government agencies don’t behave like this.
You should then look up the phone number of the agency that the person said he was from and call it. That’s how journalists make sure they aren’t getting scammed on stories — we call back a number we know belongs to the agency.
Don’t call the number they give you — it’ll be phony in all likelihood.
Apple really has no responsibility in this, except that it has created a currency in its gift cards that has made it easy for crooks to steal money without a trace.
I’ve contacted Apple on your behalf, but don’t hold out much hope. The company does say you should call its hotline at (800) 275-2273 if you are a victim of this scam.
A spokesman said that back in September the company started including a warning that gift cards should only be used to purchase songs.
Good luck. And start fighting back against these predators.