Gift card scam hits home

From staff report

A local man on Saturday at the last minute stopped an apparent gift-card fraud where the scammer claimed to be from the Quay County Sheriff’s Department.

According to a report from the sheriff’s department, the victim told a deputy he had been contacted by someone from the 505 area code who claimed to be from the Quay County Sheriff’s Department that he had bonds for the victim and if he tried to contact the sheriff’s office, he would be arrested.

The victim told the deputy the person on the line instructed him to go to a store, buy gift cards and give him their numbers. He was told to remain on the phone line and not to go to the sheriff’s office, or he would be arrested.

The victim went to the Dollar General in Tucumcari and purchased four gift cards worth a total of $1,500. He began to relay the numbers on the back of the cards to the caller when a friend told the victim the situation was a scam.

After being informed by the friend, the victim accessed his banking app on froze his account. He told the deputy he would call his bank this week to confirm the transactions wouldn’t be processed