According to Sgt. Richard Cummins with the Independence Township substation, there is someone, most likely overseas, who is calling people saying they are with Apple Support and their computer has been hacked. 
“Long story short, they get the victims to purchase gift cards and then give the person on the phone the numbers off the gift cards and that allows them access to the money,” said Cummins. “Because these are ongoing cases, I cannot give you names or amounts, but the amounts have been significant for at least one person. 
“We have tried to educate the public on these types of frauds on different occasions and with the holidays fast approaching, we would like to try and get the word out about frauds like this. If you are called randomly and they ask for you to pay with gift cards, it’s most likely a scam.”
According to data analyzed by Atlas VPN, United States residents reported 168,818 imposter scam cases amounting to $299.9 million in losses in the first half of 2020 with a median loss of $694.
That is more than two times less than in the first six months of 2019 when U.S. consumers reported 355,866 imposter fraud cases.
The report shows that imposter scam numbers are the lowest in the past six years. However, the amount of funds lost to such scams has been growing steadily since 2015, suggesting that imposter fraud is becoming more sophisticated.
California had 13,312 imposter scams in the first half of 2020 — the most out of all the 50 states. Other states which faced a significant number of imposter scams in the first half of this year include Florida (10,489), Texas (9,944), New York (7,844), Pennsylvania (4,958), Ohio (4,474), Illinois (4,313), Michigan (4,254), North Carolina (3,893), and Georgia (3,731).
The state with the fewest imposter scams is Wyoming, whose residents reported 165 imposter scams in the first half of 2020.
Other U.S. states with a low count of imposter scam cases include North Dakota (187), South Dakota (205), Alaska (261), Vermont (264), Rhode Island (426), Montana (463), Maine (473), Hawaii (488), and Delaware (504).
Cummins said Independence has had two such cases in the past week and said he is sure it is just beginning.