POLICE have warned millions of Apple customers about a gift card scam that steals their cash.
Online criminals, who impersonate friends and family, ask the victim to send over an Apple gift card.
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If the victim falls for the scam they can lose cash in seconds. A woman who fell victim to the online scam told Mail Online that she thinks the scammers read through emails on her account.
They could then mimic the language and tone of the emails when they asked her to send over a gift card.
The heartless scammers pretended to be an elderly neighbour who she sometimes helps out.
The email explained that she wanted buy her niece a birthday present but was unable to do so because she was in hospital.
The scammer specifically asked for two £100 Apple gift cards from Tesco’s website.
The victim, who was at work at the time, agreed to send the gift cards and even asked if whether they wanted the gift card to be signed with ‘aunt’ or ‘aunty’.
When the victim told the scammer that they had seen their neighbour in the car park a week ago, the emails terminated.
Police in North Yorkshire issued a warning earlier this year.
A spokesperson said: “The person who had purportedly sent the email had been hacked and the message had been sent to everyone in their personal address book.”
The force urged others who receive a message from friends or family asking for a gift card to not respond.
Apple have also issued a warning.
A spokesperson for the tech giant said: “A string of scams are taking place asking people to make payments over the phone for things such as taxes, hospital bills, bail money, debt collection, and utility bills.
“The scams are committed using many methods, including gift cards.”
The spokesperson explained that the fraudsters are sometimes requesting codes from Apple Gift Cards, App Store & iTunes Gift Cards, or Apple Store Gift Cards.
Apple advised customers not to use Apple Gift Cards to buy items not from Apple.
A spokesperson said: “If you are not purchasing an item from Apple, do not make a payment with an Apple Gift Card.
“There’s no other instance in which you’ll be asked to make a payment with either of these gift cards.
“Do not provide the numbers on the back of the gift card to anyone that you don’t know.
“Immediately report potential scams to your local police department as well as the FTC.”
Tesco’s website comes with a safety warning about Apple gift cards.
It reads: “Keep your money safe. If you’re ever asked to pay debt or bills with gift cards or to buy gift cards on someone else’s behalf, it could be a scam.
“Find out how to keep your money safe with tips and advice from Take Five at takefive-stopfraud.org.uk.”
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