An Ocala woman who reported receiving phone calls from people posing as the Social Security Administration was scammed out of $2,500.
On June 2, an Ocala Police Department officer responded to Pine Ave in reference to fraud. The victim claimed for the past couple weeks she has received multiple calls from a number from San Antonio.
The victim said she answered the phone and the person who answered claimed they were from the Social Security Administration. The victim said she spoke to two people and an alleged DEA officer. The victim said all of the calls came from the same phone number, 210-891-4129, according to the sheriff’s report.
The victim said a woman she spoke to on the phone who went by the name “Sara Morgan,” claimed the victim had a warrant out for her arrest and all she had to do was pay them $2,000. She agreed to pay them and followed their instructions.
“Sara Morgan” instructed her to purchase four target gift cards from a CVS Pharmacy and Winn Dixie supermarket, load $500 on each, scratch of the number, call them back and read off the number to them. The victim did as they instructed and provided the officer with receipts confirming the purchase, according to the report.
The woman reported she realized she may have been scammed and when she called the number back, the number was unavailable.
Although the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says they will “never call to demand immediate payment,” nor will they “call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill,” the Social Security Administration does at times call individuals. According to the administration’s website, the organization will never demand an immediate payment, threaten you, or require payment by cash, gift card, pre-paid debit card, or wire transfer.