A Hempfield man was scammed out of $1,800 after, state police said, he was contacted by a person who claimed to be the pastor at a local church.
The two communicated by text message Nov. 14 and the scammer requested money to help church members who are confined to their homes battling cancer, troopers said.
The Hempfield man told investigators he was instructed to purchase gift cards for $100 each and provide the card numbers to the scammer.
He bought 17 Visa gift cards, police said.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, anyone who asks for payment in the form of a gift card is a scammer.
People who use this type of scam may claim they’re representing a government office or a utility company, or may pretend to be someone you know.
Anyone who thinks they may have fallen victim to a gift card scam should contact the gift card company, request their money back and report the situation to reportfraud.ftc.gov.
AARP reports that scammers have posed as leaders of religious institutions to steal money from gift cards across the country.
