Pensioners warned of iTunes giftcard telephone fraud

Elderly residents are being warned to beware of fraudsters operating an iTunes gift card scam.

Officers from the Austin Safer Neighbourhood Team have received reports of residents in the community being contacted over the phone by scammers.

They were called on their house phones by somebody purporting to be from HM Revenue & Customs.

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The fraudster explained how they owed a large amount of tax to the government and that they needed to pay off the debt using iTunes gift cards.

The fraudster gave instructions for the residents to go to the shop immediately to purchase the vouchers and that they would call back in 20 minutes time for the details of the cards, if not, they said that the police would be paying them a visit.

TDC Dee Hornblower of the Derbyshire Fraud Investigation Team said: “I would like to remind residents that any organisations, particularly well-known government organisations such as HMRC, would not request for debts to be paid in iTunes vouchers.

“If you are contacted out of the blue for cash or payments owing, always make sure that you carry out your own checks to determine that the call, email or letter is from an official organisation and that the payment request is genuine.

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“Finally, if you are not sure, cease contact and check with family, police, or Action fraud.”

If you, or anyone you know, have been affected by this fraud or any other scam, report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040.

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