A-A-R-P Iowa is calling on lawmakers to help prevent gift-card scams during this year’s legislative session.
Impostor scams have been the number one consumer fraud scam in Iowa for nine years running and commonly seek payment via gift cards. A-A-R-P Iowa’s Paige Yontz says impostors play on a victim’s fears, usually tied to family members…
While it may sound like common sense not to do that, Yontz says victims often panic and follow the impostor’s orders. A-A-R-P Iowa is pushing for a measure designed to educate people about gift card scams and encourages consumers to think twice before falling victim. Gift card scams cost Americans close to 150-million dollars in 2023, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
A-A-R-P reports one in three people say they know someone who has been the target of a gift-card scam, and one in four adults say they aren’t aware that being asked to send money via a gift card is fraudulent. Yontz says the measure being considered would require retailers to help educate consumers at the point of sale…
Companion bills await Iowa House and Senate subcommittee action.
(courtesy Iowa News Service)
