Scam alert: Police warn about using gift cards in online transactions

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - Police in Senoia are issuing a warning about the website eBay Motors. Police say there is nothing wrong with that site overall, it is a good and easy way to buy a car online, but they are concerned about scam artists who are asking victims to pay for the cars using eBay gift cards.

First of all, police warn that anytime someone requires a gift card in exchange for something, that’s usually a scam.

Here is how this one worked. A man in Coweta County wanted to buy a car. He went on eBay Motors and found a car he liked, a 2019 Nissan Maxima. It was at a pretty good price, but actually police say it was an unrealistic price of $1,400. They say that should have been a red flag.

Also, police said another red flag is the seller offered to ship the car from Montana to Atlanta for free. They say that should have been a tip-off that this was too good to be true.

Then the third thing, the big concern here, the seller wanted payment in gift cards.

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In this case, police say the victim purchased $1,400 in eBay gift cards and gave the seller the redemption code on the back. That meant the scam artist could use the cards how every he wished.

Police day the seller cashed them in and purchased a bunch of Apple products and shipped them to Ukraine. Police were we’re able to stop one of the shipments and the hope to return some of the money to the victim.

Bottom line from police, you should not have to use gift cards when paying bills or making purchases. And never give someone the redemption code numbers to the cards you’ve purchased. 

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