Green Dot Card scams hit area

This time of year brings out the scam artists.

“We’ve just received a call from Walgreens. They have been overrun with request for Green Dot Card purchases and phone inquiries,” says Detective Division Captain Randy Tyner.

A Green Dot Card is like cash. Once you provide the numbers on the card to a scam artist, the card has no value for you and the scammer has it all, Tyner said.

A concerned employee is taking time to ask the customers what they plan to do with their Green Dot Card. She has heard a variety of answers that all point to scams.

One customer said it was the Publisher’s Clearing House and in order to claim the prize they had to pay a fee with a Green Dot Card. Other customers explained receiving notifications of winning prizes and they were asked to buy a Green Dot Card and call back with the numbers on the card to retrieve their prize.

Tyner emphasizes that you can’t win a contest you didn’t enter and if you win a prize of some kind that you have to make a payment on before you receive it, more than likely it is all a scam.

“If you feel uneasy about a prize notification you have received, please call the non-emergency number of the Police Department at 767-0370 so that we can look over the notifications before you lose your money and become a victim,” says Tyner.

“These crimes are nearly impossible to prosecute and the reality is the victims never receive their money back.”