Imposter scams have become scammers’ default scheme for defrauding their victims. They pretend to be everything from the IRS to Amazon.
The latest imposter scam impersonates Xfinity and it’s lately targeting people in the Pittsburgh area. According to the Ross Township, Pa. Police Department, Xfinity customers are getting phone calls from people claiming to be from the cable company, offering them a money-saving deal.
“Officers have taken multiple reports over the last week from Xfinity customers who reported falling victim to a telephone scam,” the Department posted on Facebook. “The scam involves a phone call from someone claiming to be from Xfinity, offering to save you 50% on your cable bill for two years. The only catch, is they require you to pay for one year of service upfront, over the phone.”
And these particular scammers are pretty clever, coming up with a reason the victims are told to pay the money using gift cards, which many people now recognize as a sign of a scam. Some victims told police the scammer told them that Xfinity had a joint promotion with the retailer and the deal was only available if you paid with Target gift cards.
‘If it’s too good to be true…’
“If you are instructed by anyone from any company to provide payment to them in gift cards over the phone, please hang up with them and contact your service provider either in person, or at a telephone number that you are familiar with,” the department said. “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Another tip-off that the “deal” wasn’t real is the fact that victims were contacted by telephone. A large company like Comcast, the parent company of Xfinity, would use a much more economical way to market its promotion, such as email or direct mail.
The fact that scammers are targeting Xfinity subscribers also suggests the bad guys have access to the company’s subscriber data. If you are an Xfinity customer, stay alert!