Fake app store gift card number
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Others say they're training employees to spot potential victims. Some stores put up signs next to gift card racks and checkout counters warning about fraud. All told, the FBI tallied $4.2 billion in fraud losses reported by victims last year. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, for example, said it receives more than 2,000 complaints each day about all sorts of internet scams, from fraudulent business impersonation to fake romances to gift card scams.
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"This is only the tip of the iceberg," said John Breyault, vice president for public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League. So when the Federal Trade Commission counted more than $245 million in money lost to gift card scams since 2018, most experts said the actual number is likely many multiples worse than that. Many victims don't report the crime to authorities, often because they're embarrassed and quickly learn the hard truth that they're unlikely to get their money back. It's impossible to fathom how much money these scammers have taken. "If someone coerces you, then you're out of luck," said Kathy Stokes, director of fraud prevention programs at AARP. Even identity fraud insurance, which would cover ID theft in the case of a data breach, often doesn't apply when you've given the information willingly. When a victim shares the card number with a scammer, they've effectively authorized its use. But it's different with gift cards - they have no such legal protections.
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The fees we pay help cover the losses to that fraud. But it tends to feel more like an inconvenience than theft, because you usually get your money back thanks to a nearly half-century-old law designed to protect consumers from any " unauthorized" credit charges. That's because it cost Americans a staggering $56 billion last year, according to Javelin Strategy and Research. When you think of computer crimes, identity theft usually comes first to mind. Some victims have family members who fight fraud for a living. Victims are old and young, rich and poor. While it's easy to assume most victims are elderly, surveys suggest it's much broader. Moments just like this happen to tens of millions of Americans every year. She did as he asked, giving him nearly $9,000 worth of gift cards. "I need you to go to the store to get Target cards," she remembers him saying. Then he could put the money back into Match's bank accounts and all would be settled. The only way to fix the mistake, he told her, was to buy gift cards with the extra money she'd received and give him the numbers.
FAKE APP STORE GIFT CARD NUMBER CODE
Instead, Kevin set his scam in motion by manipulating the code on her computer to make it look like he had deposited $9,000 into her bank account instead, effectively doubling her savings. "We're going to directly refund you your money," he promised and asked her to fill out a computer-generated form for her refund of $93. He then directed Hernandez to log into her bank's website.
FAKE APP STORE GIFT CARD NUMBER INSTALL
First, though, he told her she needed to install a program called TeamViewer, which allowed him remote control of her computer. Kevin, the man on the other end of the line, said he could help. What she found instead was a fake website, built to look legitimate but with a phone number that connected her to a scammer posing as Match customer service. She searched on Google for a customer service number to call. The 50-year-old single mother of four had signed up for the service but decided she didn't want to stay with it. Lisa Hernandez was trying to reach, the dating site, to cancel her account when it happened to her. Maybe someone who says she works for Microsoft, offering a refund for a computer security service you bought a few years ago that stopped working. Maybe a phone call from someone who says he works for Amazon, claiming he noticed someone hacked into your account. Gift cards have become a popular way for scammers to launder money.