The victim said she had been contacted at 6:50 p.m. by a man saying he wanted to buy the Beanie Babies for a cousin’s birthday. He told her he was a Marine stationed overseas and could not ship the items. He told the victim to purchase a $300 Xbox gift card for his cousin and he would pay her $380 to cover gas and stress and shipping.
She went to Kroger and purchased three $100 gift cards. She was sent an e-mail from what was supposed to be PayPal but was actually from the scammer. There was also a link to send pictures of the codes on the back of the gift cards. She was told she would receive $1,400 after the cards were verified.
She was told the cousin had said that would not be enough money and to send another $350, again using purchased gift cards, which she did by getting three $100 gift cards at Speedway.
After sending the scammer photos of those cards, she became suspicious but he told her she would lose her job and have legal action against her unless she sent a refund of $500, which she refused to do.
The name he had provided to the victim was determined to be false and there were no suspects.
About the Author