Victim Location 91401
Type of a scam Sweepstakes/Lottery/Prizes
I am a teacher. I received a staples gift card as part of an award and was accidentally mixed up 1888-609-6963 with 1800-609-6963. As soon as I called there was a message that said that today they had a promotion and callers were eligible to receive a $100 gift card that could be used at any store for food or as cash. Because I thought I was calling staples I believed it. the phone connected met to a guy I asked to know the balance of my Staples gift card and how I could get the the promotional card. The man with an Indian accent who called himself Alex, answered. He said he would gladly take down my information to send me the card by mail at no cost. He first asked for my name, last name, address and zip code. Next he said OK, now there will be no cost today but when the card gets to you, you will have to pay for an activation so at that time you will be charged 4.95 so we just need a valid credit card to charge once you receive your card. I knew immediately that it was probably a scam. I asked him why it was needed and how else I could get my card. Then he said you don’t have to provide your own card if you don’t want to another person’s card is fine I just want to verify that you are of an age to be active spender or consumer (I don’t recall the correct word choice). Then thinking I was talking to someone from staples I said it’s OK I’d rather not receive the card can you just pass me to your manager. He then proceeded to sound upset with me and continue trying to convince me. When I didn’t budge he said he would transfer me to his manager. then he said the computer was down and he would not be able to tell me my balance in my gift card so if i could wait 10 minutes to call back for the balance. I checked the phone number as soon as I hanged up and realized the area code was wrong and the man was a scammer. I am afraid he may try to use my information including my name, last name, phone number and address to try to get money from me or my family in the future. What can I do? Also when I tried calling the phone number a second time just now it still sounds like they are trying to scam people but now as a health company, I called a third time to see if they are changing the story every time and now it immediately sounds dead/disconnected and says "goodbye" Had I given my card information they may have ruined my life and credit DON’T EVER GIVE YOUR CARD INFORMATION, especially for something meant to be free!!!!