Gift cards have been a source of numerous scams with the most recent being a scam that comes in the form of a text message where the potential victim is told that they have won a free gift card as a result of a contest in which they were automatically enrolled when they made a recent purchase using their credit or debit card at a local retailer.  The problem is that in order to claim your gift card, you have to pay a $25 dollar processing fee.  Of course, the contest is a scam and anyone paying the money and providing personal information runs the risk of not only losing their $25, but also of becoming a victim of identity theft through the personal information they provide the scammer.

TIP

Chances are if you had enrolled in a contest, you would have remembered so when you are told that you have won a contest about which you have no memory of ever entering, it is a scam.  If you have any thoughts that you might have won a legitimate contest, contact the company allegedly putting on the contest to see if indeed it is legitimate.  It is also a good idea to check with your local attorney general to also check out whether it is a fraud.

For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”  Scamicide was recently cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”