LaSalle police working to educate people about gift card scams

A new campaign is taking aim at educating people about gift card scams.

The LaSalle Police Service, working with Windsor Essex County Crime Stoppers, is posting signs in businesses throughout the town where gift cards are sold.

The sign has a message for gift card purchasers that says, "Stop. Before you buy that gift card read this first. Did you receive a phone call from someone saying that you have to buy gift cards in order to pay a debt and to stay out of trouble with the law? Don't do it. It’s a scam! Call the police.” 

There is a QR code on the sign that will bring you to the LaSalle Police Service gift card scam page for further information.

Senior Constable Terry Seguin says they want to help people avoid being a victim.

"Those gift card scams usually manifest themselves by way of an emergency scam telephone call or grandparents scam telephone call, where you're instructed to keep yourself out of trouble or keep a loved one out of trouble by going to the store and buying gift card, then reading the information from the gift cards to the scammer on the phone," he says.

LaSalle Police Service Senior Constable Terry Seguin displays a sign that's part of a campaign to educate people about gift card scams. Dec. 8, 2022 (Photo by Rob Hindi)

Police say there are many types of online, phone, text message, and e-mail scams but one thing remains constant, fraudsters continue to try to get our hard-earned cash by cheating or scaring us out of it.

Seguin says many scammers are very talented and convincing.

"It's easy to say after the fact 'how could you have fallen for that?' But when you're in the moment of trying to prevent a loved one from being in trouble or keep yourself from being in trouble, it's easy to fall for those scams because it plays on your emotions and feelings," he says.

Another scam police are warning people about is altered or gift card tampering.

Seguin says you should look at the back of any gift cards and make sure they haven't been tampered with.

He says they are dealing with three different incidents report this week at a store in LaSalle.

With files from Rob Hindi