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City of Bartlesville

Posted: May 01, 2019 12:21 PMUpdated: May 01, 2019 1:36 PM

Gift Card Scam Impacts Several Bartlesville Residents

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Garrett Giles
Online and telephone scams have effected several Bartlesville residents in recent weeks.
 
Captain Jay Hastings with the Bartlesville Police Department said each case has provided a different scam with one common link: gift cards.
 
Once the victims purchased the cards, they were asked to provide the numbers on the cards. The cards in each case have involved either eBay Cards or Visa Cards.
 
Captain Hastings said the cards were then useless as the victims never received anything for the money spent to buy them. If you are asked to do business by getting a gift card, he said you are more than likely being involved in a scam.
 
Hastings said the scams offered computer virus protection or free cable for six months with the purchase of the gift cards. He said to call the Bartlesville Police Department if something like this is offered to you online or over the phone.
 
In one case involving an eBay Gift Card, Hastings said the BPD was looking at tracking the purchases that were made to the user. Once it gets to that point, however, he said it is almost impossible to solve.
 
If the number has been given to the suspect, then there is not much police can do to get the money back or track the scammer. Hastings said the scammers are not normally local, nor are they traceable. Even if it is too late, he said to call police so they can report it and educate the public.
 
For your protection, Captain Hastings said that you should not conduct business with subjects requesting you to purchase gift cards for compensation. He also said that you should keep your private information like bank account numbers to yourself.

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