NEWS RELEASE
SOUTH SIMCOE POLICE
*****************************
South Simcoe Police Service officers would like to remind the public to be aware of a recent scam involving Google Play gift cards.
Officers have recently received several reports of citizens being contacted through their personal computers or via home and/or cellphone by suspects claiming to act on behalf of a government agency or credit company. The suspects state that the victim owes money for taxes or outstanding credit card purchases that need to be paid to avoid a significant penalty.
The suspects will ask the victim to purchase Google Play gift cards typically in an amount totalling $500. The victim will then be instructed to scratch the back of the card to reveal the code that will then be provided to the suspect. Once this process has been completed, the value of the card is redeemed by the suspect who will then stop communicating with the victim or will sometimes ask the victim to repeat this process to gain further funds.
Please be aware that once a card code is provided to the suspects, Google Play will not provide a refund or any form of compensation to the victim.
In these circumstances, the phone numbers and employee names provided by the suspects are fictitious.
To safeguard yourself from this crime, avoid disclosing personal details or your banking particulars to anyone over the phone or internet. If you do fall victim to this scam, contact police and report the incident.
Know this: government agencies and credit card companies will never ask for gift cards as payment. If you receive such a call, hang up immediately. If you receive a text or email of this nature, delete it.
Additional information can be found here.
*****************************
