A 72-year-old Crossville woman has been scammed out of hundreds of dollars after falling for a free money scam.
The woman told Crossville Police that she received a phone call on Thursday (3/13/24) from a woman claiming to be with the Federal Reserve in Washington D.C. who told her that the Reserve was offering $8,000 to low income individuals. The victim was then given a phone number to call, which she did. She contacted a man who said his name was “Mike” with the Federal Reserve bank in New York. “Mike” instructed the victim to buy three $200 Ebay gift cards so he could send her $8,000. The victim purchased the cards and gave “Mike” the card numbers. Mike then gave her what he said was a routing number and told her to go to Western Union bank. When she went to Western Union she learned the routing number did not exist.
She was scammed out of $600.
Remember, any time anyone asks you to purchase gift cards and the like as a form of payment, or to pay for something that is supposed to be free, it is ALWAYS a scam.