Newtown Township, PA - Newtown Township Police have seen a recent increase in the number of fraud related reports, for unsuspecting victims that have been scammed by phone or email to purchase pre-paid gift cards. The victims are being contacted with a false story, convincing the victims to purchase the gift cards as payment, then provide the gift card numbers to the scammer to transfer the money. Keep in mind, there are very few legitimate reasons, if any, where a business or individual will require you to pay a bill or balance using pre-paid gift cards. Please see the attached video from the Federal Trade Commission, or visit the link for more information.

If possible, we encourage store employees to contact our department if they suspect that someone is being victimized.  Unfortunately, some elderly victims that are questioned by the stores directly are often too intimidated to speak up on their own.    

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