Scam involving iTunes gift cards costs Oxford woman $1,400

Matchy Matchy

Credit: Lisa Werner

Credit: Lisa Werner

Matchy Matchy

An Oxford woman told police on Nov. 17 she was defrauded out of $1,400 from several callers who claimed she had won a grant.

The woman received a call saying that she qualified for a grant of $14,566, according to a police report.

MORE: Local residents warned of new health care phone scam 

She was told she needed to pay 2.5 percent of the grant amount by using Apple iTunes gift cards because the tech company was the donor of the grant.

The woman told police she bought a $100 iTunes card online and then $300 worth of iTunes cards locally.

She then provided each gift card’s codes to the caller, who then told her she was now registered with Apple but needed to pay $1,000 for taxes to the IRS.

She was then told she needed to spend another $1,275 to raise her credit score to 780 in order to receive the grant, according to a police report.

At that point, the woman told the caller she was unable to do that and said she wanted her money back, having spent all the money in her bank account and maxing out her credit card.

By the time she alerted police, iTunes advised her all the gift cards had already been spent and couldn’t be redeemed or returned.

The woman’s credit card company is working with her bank to try and get her money back, according to the police report.

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