A current scam to be wary of

Two males claiming to work for a national bank chain told their victim there was a transaction on her account for $1 thousand; however, to get the money refunded, she would have to buy two, $500 dollar gift cards.  They wanted her to call them and pass along the numbers on pre-paid cards so the reimbursement could take place.  Money was taken from her Bank of America account to buy the gift cards.  This is one of the scams for which Oconee Sheriff’s Office has issued an alert.  “If there is ever a sure sign of a scam, it is a request for payment using a pre-paid card,” says Master Deputy Jimmy Watt.  “If someone requests payment using some type of prepaid card, go ahead and presume it is a scam.  Remembering the golden rule of scams will save you a lot of headaches in the long run.  Once the numbers are used, and money is removed from the cards, then recovery of those funds is extremely difficult, if not impossible.”  The advice from the sheriff’s office is that if anyone is a scam victim, consider contacting law enforcement to request a report be filed.  In some cases, an institution requires a police report to be filed before it will consider reimbursing a victim.  You can also contact the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs at 1-800/922-1594 or online at www.consumersc.gov.