Many people, especially the elderly, have been victimized by scammers who intimidate them into buying pre-paid gift cards to pay for correcting non-existent problems such as IRS debts, law enforcement action, Social Security or utility shut offs and actual problems such as scammer-installed computer malware and viruses. See https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/gift-card-scams.
I have written to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suggesting that a warning label be placed on each pre-paid gift card, much like the warning labels on cigarette packages.
Because the elderly population is largely composed of people who get their information from reading than video content, a written warning is likely to be effective.
The pre-paid gift card warning label might say: “Government offices, including the IRS and Social Security, are not allowed to accept payment with pre-paid gift cards. No Sheriff, no court, no county, no state, no city, no town is allowed to accept payment with pre-paid gift cards. No legitimate business accepts payment with pre-paid gift cards. If you have a computer problem, call your Internet or cable provider. Only scammers ask for payment with pre-paid gift cards.”
Please join me and contact the FTC to request that it require such warning labels on each pre-paid gift card.
Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580 Telephone: (202) 326-2222
By email to: antitrust@ftc.gov
