2 people out hundreds in eBay, Amazon scams

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Published: Oct. 26, 2020 at 8:53 AM CDT
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MERRILL, Wis. (WSAW) -The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department says two people are out hundreds of dollars as a result of two separate scams.

Investigators state the first victim found what he thought was a John Deere Gator for sale on eBay and began corresponding with the seller who told the victim she was in Wyoming. The UTV, which normally sells for $7,000 was offered at $2,000 as the seller explained she wanted to sell the Gator before being deployed.

The man was instructed to send the payment by gift cards in $500 increments. The victim was able to contact eBay and they were able to refund $300 of the funds before it was collected, the man lost $1,700.

The second victim received a phone call saying someone had placed an order using her information on Amazon. The caller offered to track the order in an attempt to find the "thief' but insisted the woman provide them with a $500 gift card. The woman went to a box store and put $500 on a gift card and called the scammer back with the numbers. The scammers told her the gift card was defective and instructed her to go to another box store for another $500 gift card, which she did. When the woman realized she was the victim of a scam she had incurred a loss of $1,000.

The Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection offer several educational resources to protect Wisconsinites.

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