COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Dept. of Consumer Affairs (SCDCA) is warning consumers of the latest tactics used by scammers to steal from their victims: barcodes.
SCDCA says scammers are sending barcodes to victims pretending to be law enforcement or utility company employees demanding payment before threatening arrest of loss of services. The scammer directs the victim to follow their instructions and use the barcode to go to popular retail stores like Walgreens, Walmart or CVS to load money onto gift cards, prepaid cards, cryptocurrency, or E-cash.
Real law enforcement or utility personnel will never send a barcode and insist you take it to a store to pay…