John Jones

Victim Location 30303

Total money lost $1,000

Type of a scam Phishing

I legally purchased $1000 worth of Victoria Secret (VS) gift cards in Atlanta, GA a couple of years ago to give as Christmas presents to a couple of family members. Some time later I wanted to sell the cards because I no longer had need for them and so placed "for sale" on Letgo. I was contacted by an interested party (John Jones https://us.letgo.com/en/u/john-jones_Z16Qge0z8o) who asked for a picture of the back of the cards so that they could call Victoria Secret customer service number to verify the amount on the card. Because this sounded suspicious, I contacted the VS customer service number and shared the specifics of the situation. I was informed that so long as I did not reveal the scratch off security code, nothing could be done. I hung up and called up for the second time and was told the same information (I even asked for the agent to verify this with their supervisor) and again the response was same…do not show scratched off code and you will be fine. I then confidently took pictures of the back of the cards and sent over to prospect buyer. Then the buyer went silent. I then was contacted by another seller that upon verification said I have "zero balance" on the cards. I then contacted VS customer service who informed me that zero balance is in fact correct and that the cards were used in somewhere in Oregon or Washington (if I recall correctly). PUBLIC BE WARNED: do NOT take pictures of back of cards and send to someone you don’t know whether or NOT you have the scratch off code.