MASON CITY – Mason City police today are warning of a costly romance scam.
Mason City police today told of a north Iowan who banks at a Mason City bank who purchased approximately $18,000 of gift cards in the last 2 weeks after an unknown subject contacted the resident electronically (text messages and emails). The victim claims he never talked to “her” directly or over the phone but she wrote that she wanted to be his girlfriend and lives in Nigeria. The resident gave the unknown person his personal bank account info. The unknown person started initiating bogus ACH electronic payments to his acct. He would then quickly withdraw money before the pending ACH cleared, go purchase gift cards, scratch off the access code info and send photos of the access code info back to the unknown person. The unknown person would then drain the cards quickly.
Police say this is another example of the numerous people who succumb to these types of scams.
“We have seen several losses that exceed $10,000 for each victim,” Captain Mike McKelvey said in a press release. “Many of the victims are contacted through social media and online dating sites. Two popular apps being used by scammers to find victims for these types of scams are ‘Whats App’ and ‘Hangouts’.”
Below are two photos police made available. One shows what the $18,000 in gift cards purchased over the last 2 weeks looks like. All gift cards have been drained. The second photo is an exampled of the text communication between victim and prey.
From my previous experience its not that easy to get back a lost it stolen bitcoin because these scammers are very smart and they will cover their tracks but if you manage to find a trustworthy and reliable Recovery company, I said trustworthy and reliable because many scammers are out there disguising as Recovery agents and will only take your money without recovering your bitcoin, I was a victim of such myself after loosing my bitcoin to an investment scam I sort for help and I met few recovery agents and was scammed by a particular one again. Luckily for me I was referred to a company on telegram. You can send a complaint mail to fightingscams(@)AOL{.}com, he should be able to help you. They Recovered my stolen bitcoin after risking a token to their Recovery program. It was worth it in the end.
The article states the police contacted the media not the victim.
I’m sorry, I missed that. I was a little peeved already when I read this article.
Thank you for pointing it out.
I still believe, they got what they deserved. There have been plenty of warnings, for years.(THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO THE OLD, AND THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED.)
You know it’s all the negative responses like the ones posted earlier that keep victims from coming forward.
Instead, of making nasty ass comments, how about you get off your asses and do something positive for once in your pathetic lives.
I will post again,
“Stupid is, as stupid does.
There have been plenty of warnings about scams like this. I can’t bring myself to care that some dumbass fell for it.”
We might not be so negative, if this wasn’t such a well known scam. Even the Mason City police department has been warning people of it for what 4-5 years already.
Our negativity is because the “victim” wants sympathy for being a freaking idiot. NOPE, not gonna happen.
Dear Stupid is, as Stupid Does,
Where in the article does it say the “victim” wants sympathy?
Perhaps, you lacked learning the proper etiquette from your momma. You should have been taught, “If you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all”. The world has enough negativity without you adding your thoughtless/worthless two cents.
The “victim” wants sympathy, by the fact that the told it to the media.
“Perhaps, you lacked learning the proper etiquette from your momma. You should have been taught, “If you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all”. The world has enough negativity without you adding your thoughtless/worthless two cents.”
My mother AND father taught me to try and see reality. If I offered you 3oz of gold for $50, and you were gullible enough to take it, would you tell people? NO, you wouldn’t.
In reality, someone you just met wants you to send them money, wait till it has fully deposited first, and sorry, NOBODY gets my bank info. For the last 10+ years, there have been PSAs(Public Service Announcements) about not sharing that information. The PSAs about the gift card scams has been going on for at least 3 years.
So, if the mental midgets that got scammed weren’t fairly old or had mental handicaps, they deserved what they got.
Yes, I do exclude the old and the vulnerable, not the stupid.
Another Dumb Ass bites the dust.
must be pretty hard up for love
Every dude who ever dealt with a woman would warn you of a romance scam
As can every woman who’s ever dealt with a man.
Stupid is, as stupid does.
There have been plenty of warnings about scams like this. I can’t bring myself to care that some dumbass fell for it.