Portage resident loses $900 in Green Dot scam
PORTAGE — While legitimate businesses don’t demand payment via Green Dot cards, scammers continue to make money off the untraceable nature of the prepaid cards and their victims’ fears.
In the latest twist on the scheme, reported Monday to Portage police, a resident received a call from a man purporting to be Capt. Nick Cameron from the Porter County Sheriff ’s Department’s Warrant Division. The caller told the resident he had missed jury duty and there were two war- rants for his arrest for contempt of court. The victim was told he could avoid arrest by going to a Speedway gas station and buying Green Dot cards to pay his $990 fine, and the money would be refunded once he appeared in front of the judge for his court date, Jan. 22, according to the police report. The victim gave the caller the card numbers.
“The victim advised that after the transaction was complete, he felt uneasy and called the telephone number on the Green Dot cards to find out that the balance on the cards was now zero and that the suspect had acquired the cash value of the cards,” said Sgt. Keith Hughes, public information officer for the Portage Police Department, in a news release.
After the transaction, the victim contacted the Porter County Courts and was told there is no Capt. Nick Cameron, police said.
The owner of a South Haven business lost $13,000 to a similar scam on Dec. 15. Several individuals also have reported to local police over the past year that they received phone calls about unexpected debts, which supposedly could be paid for only with the prepaid cards, and the FBI has issued warnings about different variations of scams involving the cards across the country.
Although calls and emails to Green Dot were not returned Tuesday, the company’s website advertises the ease with which they can be used to transfer funds to another individual, who can put the money onto their own Green Dot card or a PayPal account. Meanwhile, it also emphasizes the unprotected nature of this use: “Green Dot is not responsible if you send money to the wrong person. To protect yourself against fraud, do not send money to someone you don’t know or trust. ... If the wrong recipient claimed the money you sent, the money cannot be recovered.”