Maryland State Police Urge Vigilance Against Telephone Scams Related to Bitcoin and Gift Cards

Maryland State Police at Salisbury Barrack have recently received reports for fraudulent activities requesting individuals to buy gift cards and disclose the card numbers. Maryland State Police remind you to exercise extreme caution when receiving phone calls or electronic notifications from sources about purchasing or using gift cards or depositing money into a Bitcoin ATM to urgently pay for supposed services or debts. Only scammers will tell you to buy a gift card and give them the numbers off the back of the card. Only scammers create urgent situations to convince victims to act quickly by withdrawing cash from their bank accounts and deposit into a Bitcoin ATM using a QR code that links to the scammers’ wallet. Police want community members to beware and know that a legitimate business or government agency will not tell you to buy a gift card to pay them.