An Adams County man was bilked out of $4,000 in a phone scam, according to a post on the Eastern Adams Regional Police Department’s Facebook page.
According to police, the victim was contacted Wednesday at 6:59 p.m. by someone claiming to be Sergeant Davis from the Leestdale Police Department. The man told the victim that the victim’s nephew had been arrested for possession of marijuana in Leetsdale, which is located in Allegheny County. The caller told the victim that his nephew needed $4,000 for bail.
The caller then told the victim to purchase two $2,000 gift cards from Target and call back with the card information, police say.
The victim purchased the gift cards from a Target in Hanover, according to police. He returned home, called the individual claiming to be Sergeant Davis and relayed the card numbers to him. When the victim asked to speak to his nephew, police say, he was told the nephew wasn’t available at the time.
Police say the victim eventually called his nephew in Cranberry, PA. The nephew told the victim he hadn’t been arrested, according to police. The victim then realized he had been scammed and contacted his daughter.
The victim’s daughter called Target to get further information about the gift cards, police say. She was told the cards were cashed at Target stores in Abington, Massachusetts and Kernsville, North Carolina. She told Target her father had been scammed and provided details of the incident.
Eastern Adams Regional Police say they conducted an investigation into this incident, and found the following results:
- The numbers that were given to the resident (1-236 889-4622 and 1 403-977-3091) received no answers.
- The area codes didn’t match the Leetsdale area code.
The incident will be referred to Pa Attorney General’s Office Fraud Division.
That this type of scam has been going on for an extended period of time nationwide, police say. All residents are reminded that Police Departments across the country never call any individual to request any payment of money in the form of a gift card. Never believe that an incident has occurred when instructed to give gift card numbers to anyone.
