Scam Round Up: The gas pump switching scam and more
By Greg Collier
There’s a new version of the advance fee scam circulating on Facebook Marketplace. An advance fee scam is when a scammer promises something valuable for free then asks for some type of payment for things like taxes or shipping.
In this case, scammers are offering a free laptop, but it comes with a sob story. The ad claims the seller bought their spouse a new ‘laptop pro’, but they caught their spouse cheating and want to give the laptop away as a form of punishment.
The ad almost tips itself off as being a scam, since the gender of the spouse switches back and forth in the description.
“I am giving out this laptop Pro that I bought to surprise my husband for her birthday but then caught her cheating on me,” the scammer wrote. “I know I could sell it and get my money back, but I want to show her I gave it away for nothing like her is to me.”
The catch is, once someone responds to the ad, the seller asks for a $70 shipping fee, and the laptop is never delivered. Scammers are also using hijacked Facebook accounts. So if you see a friend listing this for sale, you may want to let them know.
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A new version of the jury duty scam has popped up in Florida, and its targets are more vulnerable than the typical jury duty scam victim. Instead of just calling people at random and threatening them with arrest for supposedly missing jury duty, scammers are now targeting people who have actually been subpoenaed.
Subpoenas are a matter of public record, and scammers are using these records to target their victims. Like the jury duty scam, the scammers are posing as the local police or court system and demanding cash from victims to avoid arrest. The scammers are asking their victims to meet them in person.
However, also like the jury duty scam, no law enforcement agency or court will ever call you and threaten you with arrest if you don’t make an immediate payment. If any kind of legal fine ever needs to paid, a person would be notified by mail.
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Police in the Philadelphia area are warning consumers about a gas pump scam. They call it the pump switching scam, and it starts when someone approaches a victim at the gas pumps and insists on pumping their gas for them. According to the police, the scammers are quite insistent about it.
If a victim agrees to this, the scammer won’t return the nozzle to the pump and will continue to fill the tanks of people who drive up for $20 cash. This will continue until the victim’s card hits its limit or the police arrive.
To protect yourself from this scam, always return the nozzle to the pump and end the transaction. You can also prepay inside the gas station. If you do pay at the pump, also make sure you print out a receipt.
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