A Village of Woodbury man was caught in a phone card scam last week that ended up costing him $200.
The man, who lives in the 9600 block of SE 168th Maplesong Lane, told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy last Wednesday that he was switching phone carriers and was having problems, so he called what he believed was Apple Technical Support.
The woman he spoke with told him to go to Wal-Mart and purchase a $100 Google Play card and she would reimburse him afterwards, a sheriff’s office report states.
The man said he purchased the card and gave the code to the woman but was told it didn’t go through. He was then instructed to buy another $100 card and try again, which he did, the report says, adding the woman told him the second attempt also failed.
This time, the woman told the man to go to Walgreens and buy more cards to try, telling the man she would reimburse him the total once the transaction went through.
The man spent $200 before refusing to purchase other cards and then called the sheriff’s office to report the scam, the report says. The deputy advised them man not to purchase gift cards for any company or service like that in the future.