Make off with $500, $1,000 phonecard voucher numbers

Con artists on Wednesday made off with more than $100,000 worth of Digicel Flex Card credit, after they tricked employees at four food outlets into telling them the voucher numbers for several phonecards they were selling.

Reports that the 'scammers' called fast food outlets in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, St Ann's Bay, St Ann and Manchester and falsely identified themselves as Digicel employees before requesting the voucher numbers for their $500 and $1,000 phonecards. It is said that as much as $67,000 in Flex Card credit was obtained from one location.

confirmed the incident

When THE STAR contacted the fast food outlet's head office, the marketing manager said that she had no knowledge of the situation. However, Digicel's head of group public relations, Antonia Graham, confirmed the incident.

Graham said that Digicel became aware of Wednesday's situation when the outlet contacted the company. However, she was unable to say what was the overall value of the vouchers involved in the scam.

perpetrated on and off

In a release sent to THE STAR, Digicel stated: "The scam has been perpetrated on and off for the last couple of years. People purporting to represent Digicel, who do not in fact represent Digicel, call up reseller locations requesting voucher information."

The release continued that the company was advising its resellers "to be aware of these scams, not to give out voucher information and to always verify that the person contacting them is indeed a Digicel employee by contacting Digicel directly and going through the necessary security checks in advance."

The public relations manager said that an investigation into the matter is already under way.