After the cards have been purchased, the victim is asked to pay by sharing the code(s) on the back of the card with the caller over the phone. Regardless of the reason for payment, the scam follows a certain formula: The victim receives a call instilling panic and urgency to make a payment by purchasing App Store & iTunes Gift Cards or Apple Store Gift Cards from the nearest retailer (convenience store, electronics retailer etc.). As the fraudsters are sometimes requesting codes from App Store & iTunes Gift Cards or Apple Store Gift Cards, we want to make sure our customers are aware of these scams. The scams are carried out using many methods, including gift cards.
I want to tell people to be more alert.A string of scams are taking place, in which people are asked to make payments over the phone for things such as taxes, hospital bills, bail money, debt collection and utility bills.
“A lot of times people are too embarrassed to let others know that they’ve been victimized like that. Susan said she doesn’t know how the scammer accessed her fellow golfing colleague’s email.Īnd although she found it odd that the acquaintance reached out to her, considering they had never spoken over the phone or exchanged emails before, red flags didn’t go up until the scammer asked for the second $1,000. In 2021, 33,302 victims reported of fraud cases with an approximate loss of $381 million due to fraud across Canada. But having something like this happen to you, you just feel sick.”Īccording to Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre statistics, 52,735 reports of internet frauds were reported as of July 2022. “I didn’t have any ill will or any bad feelings about trying to help somebody out. Like I can’t believe I did this, and I was that stupid,” said Susan.
“You just kind of feel stunned and shocked. She was instructed by both her bank and the Apple store to report it to the RCMP, but by this point Susan knew her $1,000 was gone. “The email was the same as the list, but it wasn’t the same person I knew.” Susan attempted to call the individual’s phone number that was listed on the golf club’s member list and figured that they were out of town as no one picked up or called back despite numerous messages left. Susan told the Richmond News that the scammer said they were “still sick” and didn’t want to get her sick as well.Īll seemed fine, until the person on the other side of the email followed-up with a message saying they received the gift card and then proceeded to ask for “another favour” of $1,000 for their niece’s book fees for school. Once Susan bought the gift card, she offered to deliver it in-person to the individual, but they instructed her to take a photo of it with the card’s pin number instead. Without hesitating, Susan said she would be glad to help.
In the email, the presumed acquaintance said “her niece, who’s had health problems, had overcome them and was doing really well and she wanted to support her with a gift card for her birthday. “They’re not a close friend, but I’ve played golf on occasion with her and one day I got an email saying she was really sick and needed help,” Susan explained. The individual, who Susan knew but had never been in phone or email contact with before, had emailed Susan asking for help to purchase a $1,000 Apple gift card as a gift for her niece. It all started when she received an email from “an acquaintance” from a local golfing club asking for help. What Susan believed was an act of good faith turned into a nightmare and a hard lesson. That’s how Richmond resident Susan described being a victim of an ongoing Apple gift card scam earlier this month. “It’s like that image of $1,000 with little wings flying out the window.”
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