Phenix City police warn public about card scam

Phenix City police took to Facebook Wednesday morning to warn the public about card schemes in the area.

Authorities said they have received a large number of complaints within the last several months concerning pre-paid cards and other type of quick payment cards.

"The scheme is that a perpetrator will contact possible clients of a business by phone acting as agents or representatives of the business," Lt. Steve Nolin said in a news release. "They will tell the clients that they owe money using the scheme and advise them to purchase a prepaid card such as Green Dot, Vanilla, or MoneyGram type cards."

Officials said that once the prepaid card is purchased, the client is then asked to give the verification code on the back of the card. The money placed on the card can be retrieved immediately with almost no chance of recovery, according to police.

"A legitimate business should never ask a customer to pay for services in this manner," Nolin said. "If a consumer is contacted by what they think is a legitimate business and asked to pay for services in this manner, they should contact the business directly. If suspicious activity is suspected, the consumer should terminate the call immediately and contact the police."

Sarah Robinson: 706-571-8622, @sarahR_92

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Phenix City police warn public about card scam."