A 65-year-old Salina man is out $1,700 after falling for a scam on social media.
Between Jan. 27 and March 1 of this year, the man was approached via social media by someone he thought he knew, Salina Police Captain Gary Hanus said this morning. That person referred him to an agent who advised him he had won a federal government grant, and that by paying $800, he could receive a grant for $20,000, Hanus explained.
Originally, the man was asked to pay the $800 with bitcoin through a QR code, but when he said he didn't know how to do that, he was asked to pay via gift cards for the online gaming platform Steam, Hanus said. The man provided photos of the codes on the cards and the activation code from the receipt to the agent, Hanus said.
According to Hanus, the scammer continued to string the man along, eventually getting $1,700 from him. The scammer even went as far as to send the man a photo of an alleged certificate of grant award and a package with the man's name on it that supposedly was to be mailed the next day, Hanus said.
When the man became suspicious and asked for his money back, he was told that the money was not refundable, Hanus said. Even then, the scammer tried an additional time to get more money from him, asking that he wire money through Bank of America, but the man refused, Hanus said.
The incident was reported to police Tuesday, he added.