The Salina Police Department was alerted to a suspected fraud incident on Wednesday, February 28. According to reports, a 72-year-old man, in the process of finalizing his mother's estate, fell victim to a scam.
The man received a phone call from an individual claiming to represent AT&T, who spoke with a foreign accent. The caller informed him of an issue with his mother's account and assured him of a $600 credit. The victim was instructed to log into an AT&T account to rectify the error by providing personal information. However, the caller credited $6,000 instead of the intended amount. Following this, the victim was directed to another individual who advised him to purchase $5,000 worth of gift cards to reconcile the transaction.
In compliance with the instructions, the victim purchased a combination of Nordstrom and CVS gift cards, totaling six cards valued at $500 each for Nordstrom and four cards for CVS. He then provided the gift card numbers to the individual as instructed.