North Wales Police issue warning on gift card scams
North Wales Police are warning residents to stay vigilant against scammers using gift card fraud over the festive period.
According to the force’s Cyber Crime team, almost £5 million was lost to gift card scams across the UK last Christmas.
Fraudsters often ask victims to buy gift cards as a way of paying fines, bills or even to claim fake prizes.
In some cases, scammers contact people pretending to be friends or relatives asking them to buy cards on their behalf.
Police say such messages are often the result of hacked social media or email accounts, meaning the money ultimately goes to cybercriminals.
A spokesperson for North Wales Police Cyber Crime team said: “If someone asks you to buy gift cards to send on to them or to pay for something, it is quite likely that you are the target of a scam.
“Watch out for unsolicited callers claiming that you need to purchase gift cards in order to pay a fine or bill or to claim a prize, for example. Also be very cautious if friends or family contact you to ask you to purchase gift cards on their behalf – it’s likely that their online account has been hacked and you’ll be sending the gift cards to a cybercriminal or online scammer.
“Please take the time to make sure that your friends and family are all aware that this type of gift card fraud is a favourite with scammers and cybercriminals. Make sure that they know that someone asking for gift cards should always be treated with caution.”
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