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With booming spring, many owners do theTurn to Lowe's And target to fill up on products to update their living spaces. The two retailers have thousands of stores distributed in the United States which drawmillions of buyers each day. But all of these consumers must take into account a new warning from the two companies concerning a major scam that costs certain customers thousands of dollars. Read the rest to find out which problem Lowe and Target alert you now.

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According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the crooks have taken a lot of foot in the United States in recent years thanks to the use of gift cards. "Both the number of reported gift cards scams and total lossesincreased each year Since 2018, "the agency warned in a December 2021 report. The FTC also published data showing that during the first nine months of 2021, around 40,000 people had declared $ 148 million stolen via cards- Gifts. And it is not even the complete scope of the full range of the problem, as the agency has declared most of the impacts of these types of scams, are not reported.

"Scholars promote gift cards because they are easy to find and buy for people, and they have fewer protections for buyers compared to other payment options," said the FTC. "Crooks can get fast money, the transaction is largely irreversible and they can remain anonymous."

On May 5, WFLA affiliated to NBC in Tampa, Florida, reported that a man in the Bay regionrecently lost more than $ 7,000 Due to a gift card scam. The man, who is a disabled veteran with a traumatic cerebral lesion, said that it all started when his laptop freezed and that a message seemed to ask him to call a listed phone number to get help. According to the victim, the person at the end of the call demanded that he were buying gift cards from Lowe's and Target to eliminate a credit card problem and was "extremely convincing" that he could face accusations criminal if he did not conform.AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

"I felt like he was selected hostage. They kept me on the phone. They said I had a time limit," he told the media. Overall, he was rushed at around $ 5,000 in Lowe cards and $ 2,000 in target cards.

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Target is "aware of the prevalence of gift card patterns and takes them very seriously", company spokespersonBrian Harper-Tibaldo, said to WFLA. According to Harper-Tibaldo, Target has panels in its stores alerting buyers of the problem and also trained team members to monitor this type of scam. "This year, we have made additional efforts to help prevent gift card programs, including communication with all our stores, training team members and new system restrictions," he adds.

Lowe spokespersonLarry Costello WFLA said the company is currently working with Florida victim in his particular case. "We take seriously the fraud of gift cards and maintain practices designed to help reduce fraud, including store signaling, online warnings and standard processes for partners," said Costello. "We encourage partners to keep an eye on customers in difficulty buying gift cards and intervene, as needed."

The FTC has declared that crooks generally require that the gift cards be purchased from specific retailers - and at the top of this list is target. According to the agency, buyers said they lost a total of $ 35 million from target gift cards scams, which was more than twice as much money that had been lost by any other brand. "During the first nine months of 2021, people who said they lost money by buying gift cards mentioned target stores more than other retailers," noted the FTC. "Reports suggest that Walmart, Best Buy, CVS and Walgreens stores are also popular with crooks."

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