PERQUIMANS CO., Va. – The Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public of a new scam that has come to its attention recently.
According to a Facebook post by the department, scammers contact people through online games or social cell phone apps and build relationships with them over a period of time. The scammers will then attempt to convince the victims to give them access to their banking accounts by promising to deposit money into the account.
The scammer will then instruct the victim to buy prepaid cards such as iTunes cards, Google Play cards or Green Dot cards with the money deposited into the account, then take pictures of the numbers on the back of the cards and send the information to the scammer.
Once the scammer has this information, they can use the money like they want. The checks that were deposited into the victim’s account bounce, and the victim is left to cover the money that was withdrawn from their own account.
According to the department, this scam has mainly been targeted at older people.
If you have questions about the scam or feel as if you may have been targeted for this crime, the Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office asks that you call your local law enforcement as soon as possible.
