The caller requested she pay using Target and E-Bay gift cards.
She did not have $1,000 in her account but took $500 from it, $100 from her father’s bank account and pawned a gold necklace and gold earrings for the remaining $400. She purchased the gift cards and provided the caller with the card numbers and pins off the backs.
She was told he would call her back but she heard nothing for two days and then tried calling the number herself. The call did go to a U.S. Immigration number and she was told it was a scam and they would never take money in that form or contact her by phone.
She then called police.
The other victim told police he had received an e-mail from Experian saying his credit score had been updated and when he logged in to investigate, he found he had an account listed as 30 days past due. It was for a PayPal credit card he did not have.
The account had been opened in May and had a past due amount of $148.
He called PayPal’s fraud department, which was unable to find an account under his name, but there was one with his Social Security number. They closed the account and started an investigation.
They also recommended he contact Experian and he placed a fraud alert on his Social Security number. They recommended he contact the police department to see if there was a way they could help.
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