Watch out for scams involving discount utility services, million-dollar prizes and unemployment benefits

Inventive fraudsters talk victims into paying with gift cards for discounts on TV, phone and internet services. If you must pay to claim a million-dollar prize, it’s too good to be true. And fraudulent unemployment claims are on the rise.

Jessica Smith received a robocall promoting steeply discounted internet services. To secure the deal, she simply had to pay with a gift card and confirm her account information. She did as instructed, but she never got that promised discount. Instead, Smith was the victim of fraud, realizing later that criminals had acquired her personally identifiable information (PII). The thieves used it to access her financial accounts and email address. Then they applied for a loan in her name, withdrew money from her bank account and applied for credit cards.