Cordova residents have been targeted in an apparent scam to obtain money in the form of gift cards. At least three residents were contacted Wednesday, Sept. 2 via text message or email by a person falsely claiming to be the Rev. Belle Mickelson. The messages urged the recipient to purchase $400 in gift cards from CVS, Walgreens or Best Buy in order to transfer money to an unnamed woman for her birthday.
“I need to get eBay gift cards,” read one text from the unidentified scammer. “I promised a cancer patient for her birthday but I can’t do that right now, Can you quickly get it from any store around you please, I’ll refund you.”
The fact that Cordova lacks chain stores like CVS, Walgreens or Best Buy provoked amusement among residents who shared screenshots of their interactions with the scammer on Facebook. One email from the scammer was sent from the address “pastor.cordovabaptistchurch@gmail.com,” despite the fact that Mickelson is pastor for St. George’s Episcopal Church.
Following identification of the scam, computer repair service owner Bryan Mills helped Mickelson confirm that her computer was secure. Apparently, none of Mickelson’s accounts had been compromised, Mills said.
Phone scammers posing as representatives of major corporations or government agencies often attempt to obtain money by having victims send them the number from the back of a gift card, which can be used to redeem the value of the card even if the scammer is not in possession of the card itself. In 2019, the most common form of fraud was the imposter scam, in which the scammer claims to be a government or business representative, or an individual known to the victim, according to a Federal Trade Commission report. Individuals who lost money to this scam frequently reported having paid the scammers via gift card. Victims of a gift-card scam may still be able to recover their money if they immediately contact the company that issued the card.
Scams can be reported to the FTC at cdv.to/scamreport.
Have you been targeted by scammers in Cordova? Tell us about your experience. Contact reporter Zachary Snowdon Smith at zsmith@thecordovatimes.com.
