Lincoln Police say a young woman fell victim to a scam on Monday. LPD Public Information Manager Erika Thomas says around 6:30 p.m. the woman reported she had received a call while at work from someone saying they were a lieutenant with the police department.
“She was told to use the business’s money to purchase gift cards and provide those numbers to the scammers over the phone,” Thomas says. “Another scammer called, impersonating her boss, telling her to comply with the instructions, so she took $1,600 cash and purchased green dot gift cards.”
Thomas says she then called her boss and they determined he had not told her to do this. “As a reminder, always independently verify the identity of someone calling you and making requests like this. LPD will never call and request money from you over the phone, including in the form of gift cards. When in doubt, just hang up.”