Please spread the word to your friends, family, co-workers and anyone else who may be vulnerable: Do not fall for prepaid card scams! Every week I read cases where victims have been tricked out of money by suspects on the phone posing as anyone from a local power company, to the IRS, to law enforcement. It is a national problem.
The scam occurs when an unscrupulous ne’er-do-well calls a victim. It goes something like this, “I’m Supervisor Smith from Duke Energy. Your business account is in arrears and you need to make a payment by prepaid card before 11 a.m. today or your power will shut off.”
Prepaid cards are available from most major credit card companies and financial institutions. A consumer “loads” the card with money and uses it as one would use a credit card. The card numbers and PINs are given to the official-sounding bad guy over the phone and the money goes poof.
Often the suspect will have background information on his mark to make the call seem legitimate—such as previous payment dates, account numbers, personal information, or even names of relatives. These are obtained over the Internet or through illegitimate means.
We first started seeing this fraud late last year at local restaurants. The manager would receive a call shortly before lunch service from Continue reading
