FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Fairfax County Police are warning the public about an old scam with a new twist that has already cost residents to lose more than $160,000 in 2024.
For years now, a popular scam method has been to receive a call or text from someone impersonating government agencies, law enforcement or a financial establishment saying they need a payment. Typically, the payment has been asked for in the form of gift cards.
But now, the payment method has evolved into the digital currency world.
"It has its origins in earlier scams, so before this it was prepaid credit cards and iTunes gift cards," Sgt. Jacob Pearce with FCPD said. "Typically what happens, they will have the victims buy a prepaid credit card and take those ... to a bitcoin ATM."
Cryptocurrency ATMs accept dollars, so the victim's money gets put into a digital wallet which the scammers can use to buy cryptocurrency, all from an ATM.
"Sending that money and transforming it digitally into cryptocurrency, at that point it becomes very difficult to track or recover," Pearce said. "It's still the wild west."
Pearce said scammers have taken more than $160,000 from Fairfax County residents in the last two months, with one person losing $31,000 alone.
To protect yourself from this scam, the biggest thing to know is that no legitimate bank or police department is going to ask for cryptocurrency payments.
How to avoid gift card scams
There are some tell-tale signs that you are the prey in a gift card scam. Experts say scammers will often use your emotions against you -- make you think you are in serious trouble if you don't do what they say right away.
Here are common signs you are being scammed, according to the FTC.
- The caller says it's urgent and you need to act immediately or something will happen to you. "But you don't, and it won't," FTC said.
- The scammer tells you specific cards to buy or specific stores to go to. They may also tell you to buy multiple cards, but get them at different stores to reduce suspicion.
- The caller may stay on the phone with you while you buy the cards and load money onto them.
- Scammers may tell you they are from a government agency like the IRS or Social Security Administration and claim you have to pay taxes or a fine. It's not true, FTC said.
- They may also say also say they are from tech support for your computer. If a scammer has somehow gained access to your computer through malware, then they can even convince you there is something on your computer that is not there by spoofing it. Then they'll tell you to buy a gift card to pay for them to repair it.
- A similar scam is when you get an email from someone saying they have compromising images of you from your webcam and will release them to the world if you don't pay up. Don't do it.
- Scammers can also claim to be from your utility company and threaten to cut off your service immediately or that you've won a prize... but first, you have to pay them some fee with a gift card.
- Emergency scams are also popular -- making you think they are a friend or family member and that they need you to give them money via a gift card right away. Of course, the scammer will tell you not to tell anyone.
- Another scam is when you get an unexpected check in the mail. Then they tell you to the check was for too much and they want you to give them back the difference via a gift card. But it's a scam because the check is fake.
- Romance scams are also popular, which is when you meet someone on a dating website and they want to trick you by having you send them a gift card.
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