Grant County Officials Say Paying Debt With Gift Cards Is Really A Scam

Over the past several weeks, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, and other area police departments, have seen an increase in fraud and scam complaints. Most of the complaints involve pre-paid gift cards from area department stores such as Target or Walmart, or online vendors such as Apple, Google, Amazon or Paypal. Often, the scammers will attempt to keep the victims on the phone while they go and purchase these types of cards. This way, they can obtain the access code to the card as soon as it is activated. The Sheriff’s Office reminds everyone that no legitimate business will ever ask you to satisfy any debt via pre-paid gift cards. Area businesses are asked to advise their staff that if anyone ever attempts to purchase large amounts of these cards, especially while actively on a phone call at the time of purchase, it is most likely a scam.