Store Employee Thwarts Gift-Card Scam Targeting 72-Year-Old

A quick-thinking employee at a CVS store in Rockland County prevented a 72-year-old woman from getting scammed into spending thousands of dollars on gift cards, police say.

The Clarkstown Police Department responded to the New City CVS at 6:30 pm Wednesday regarding a possible scam after an employee working at the cash register was approached by a 72-year-old woman who wanted to purchase more than $3,000 worth of gift cards.

Police said the employee remembered that the Clarkstown officer briefed her and her fellow employees about ongoing scams that target elderly people to purchase large dollar amounts of gift cards to pay off scammers.

The victim from Pomona said she got a phone call at approximately 12:30 p.m. Wednesday from a man named Johnson claiming to be an agent with the Social Security Administration.

The suspect allegedly told the cashier that she was the victim of a money laundering scam and needed to purchase gift cards because her Visa credit card was going to be canceled.

According to police, the suspect instructed the woman to buy the gift cards.

The suspect was calling the victim while she was at the store, but as soon as an officer got on the phone the suspect hung up, police said.

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