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SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KGO) — Millions of Americans fall for scams every year — and unfortunately once bad guys get your money, it’s usually gone for good.
But not so for a Santa Cruz mother of three. She fell for a gift card scam, but with quick action and help from 7 On Your Side, she got most of her money back!
It began when scammers persuaded a Santa Cruz mom that she was in big trouble with the law. She says she felt hypnotized into believing it — until her partner got home and snapped her out of it. And then, it was a race against time.
“They’re on my phone and in my purse, like, driving me around town,” Dax Mills of Santa Cruz recalled of those frantic moments.
“I’m in my pajamas. Not even like the cute ones. Like, these are pajamas you should not go out in public. I mean, I look like a crazy person,” she said.
Her identity had been stolen. Criminals were using it for drugs and pornography. She could be arrested at any moment.
Or so, she believed.
“Looking back on it I really feel like I was in a trance. Like I was hypnotized,” she said.
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“When I got home, I saw Dax in such a manic state,” said Rob Rusin, Dax’s partner.
It all started when Miller was working online from home.
“All of a sudden… my computer started making this loud alarm sound, which I’ve never heard it make, and all these windows popped up… saying like, stop, don’t touch anything,” Miller said. “I do see a phone number on the screen, like a Microsoft support number or something like that. And so I called that phone number.”
“I let him download some program on my computer. I know you’re not supposed to do that but I don’t know why I did it, he was going to help me,” she said.
The man said he found incriminating evidence on her computer.
“That my identity has been used to create all these different bank accounts in nine different countries. And these accounts are buying child pornography. And, and I’m being watched by the DEA,” Miller said.
The man said he’d transfer her to the Drug Enforcement Administration, then to the Treasury Department to clear this up.
“… and I think I’m talking to the DEA, I think I’m talking to the Treasury Department because… they’re like, just hold on, you’re going to get a call in a minute… that there’s a warrant out for my arrest,” Miller said. “That’s why I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody about what’s happening.”
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The purported “federal agents” told her to quickly get her money out of her bank accounts.
And put it in gift cards.
Miller rushed to her bank and withdrew $8,000 cash.
“At the bank, she’s in there in her pajamas, disheveled, pulling out cash,” recalled Rusin.
“I didn’t feel like I had time to even change clothes and put a brush through my hair,” said Miller. “Because if it wasn’t done by the end of the day, I’m going to go to jail.”
As instructed, she drove to a Safeway store and bought four Nordstrom gift cards, then to another Safeway to buy Target cards, and a third store to buy more Nordstrom cards.
“I know that you’re not supposed to go around town buying gift cards and yet I was like a zombie,” she said.
“They had her so wound up she was like in a trance,” said Rusin.
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“It’s not that easy to buy gift cards with that much money at a self checkout… the Safeway employee was helping me, he looked me right in my face and said, ‘Are you being scammed?’ and I said no! I actually said to him… my aunt is so quirky… she’s giving out my cousins these gift cards… Oh how cute!” Miller said.
At each stop she sat in the parking lot and scratched off the card numbers, texting them to the purported DEA agents still on the phone in her purse.
“I drove home luckily my partner arrived too,” she said.
“And she wouldn’t talk to me. I said, ‘Honey, what’s wrong, what’s going on?” Rusin said.
Miller was worried the agents would hear her talking. “And I am so terrified at this point and they’re still on the phone with me. So I grab a piece of like a pad of paper and I start writing on it,” she said.
“It was a dry erase board that she picked up and was writing ‘can’t talk,’” Rusin said.
“And I wrote down, like, ‘identity theft DEA,’” Miller recounted.
But after the scammers hung up — Miller blurted it out.
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“She goes, ‘It’s the DEA, and they’re going to arrest me!’ And I go honey, it’s a scam. whatever you do, don’t give them any money. And she goes, I already did!” Rusin said. “She said I spent all day giving them money.”
“And I, you know, burst into tears and cried for a couple of minutes,” Miller said. “OK, enough. We can cry later, if there’s any chance of getting our money back we have to act now.”
“I got on the phone with Nordstrom,” Rusin said.
“I was on the phone with Target,” said Miller.
Target quickly blocked all five cards. Nordstrom said the scammers had already used $1,900 worth of cards, and were about to redeem another $3,000.
Nordstrom was able to stop payment – just in time!
The only problem? Miller never got that $3,000 back.
“That’s when I contacted 7 On Your Side,” she said.
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7 On Your Side contacted Safeway, where she bought the cards. The store contacted Nordstrom which issued a credit for those blocked cards — and days later, Safeway refunded her money.
“It was victory!” cried Miller. “Thank you 7 On Your Side.”
“You really helped us,” added Rusin.
The big lesson: if a Microsoft emergency pops up on your computer it’s almost certainly a scam. Do not call the number on the screen; instead find the real number on your own.
Also the federal government would never get on the phone with you — and would never ever tell you to buy gift cards.
Just to note, Safeway tells us Nordstrom could only recover $2,900 out of that $3,000. But Miler tells us she got about $100 in reward the day she bought the cards, so she was made whole.
A Safeway statement said:
“We’re pleased we could enlist Nordstrom to assist Mrs. Mills in recovering her funds from this deplorable gift card scam. While all gift card sales are final, and these scams are beyond our control, we appreciate Nordstrom’s willingness to make resolution possible in this case.”
Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.
7OYS’s consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company / agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, please allow 7 to 10 business days for a response.
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Stephanie Sierra
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