Anotherwarning oniPhonescams

Police officers have once again warned residents to be vigilant of scams.

A spokesperson for Police Scotland’s Tayside division said:“Police Scotland would like to remind the public of iTunes vouchers scams after a 57-year-old woman was the victim of such a scam recently.

“The incident happened on Monday, September 3 and involved a man claiming to be from her internet provider.

“She was advised that she was due a refund after recent power cuts.

“He offered to refund her account for the mistake and in doing so, claimed he had incorrectly overpaid money back into her account.

“He asked her to purchase iTunes vouchers to cover the overpayment.

“The victim purchased £1900 worth of vouchers.

“Regardless of the reason for payment, the scam follows a certain formula.

“The victim receives a call instilling panic and urgency to make a payment to clear the debt by purchasing iTunes gift cards from the nearest retailer (convenience store, electronics retailer).

“After the cards have been purchased, the victim is asked to pay the alleged outstanding debt by sharing the 16-digit code of the back of the card with the caller over the phone.

“No genuine company or government department would every make such a request and any call of this nature is a scam.”

They continued:“Please, and we cannot stress this enough, do not ever be led to believe that you owe anyone money which can be paid through vouchers or gift cards.

“iTunes gift cards can only be used to purchase goods and services on the iTunes Store, app store, iBooks Store, or for an Apple Music membership.

“If you are contacted by telephone and approached to use the cards for payment out with the iTunes Store, app store, iBooks Store, or Apple Music, you are very likely the target of a scam and should immediately report it to the police.”