Conscientious Troy Store Employees Intervene, Stop iTunes Scam

TROY, MI — Conscientious employees at a Troy grocery store stopped a local woman from possibly being scammed after they alerted police that she had come to the store at 31 E. Long Lake Road Friday afternoon to purchase $20,000 worth of iTunes gift cards.

The woman told police that she had been called by a woman who claimed that her citizenship case had started, according to a report from the Troy Police Department. She was transferred to a man posing as a "senior citizenship officer," who asked her a series of questions, then said information about her arrival in the United States had never been received by their "offices."

The suspects made use of sophisticated technology and were able to call her using her husband's cellular number, which appeared on the screen of her phone. When she answered the phone, the caller said her husband was in custody on a deportation warrant. To stop the action, she was instructed to purchase $20,000 in iTunes gift cards, police said.

She was told to meet "authorities" outside of the Kroger store, but waiting officers said they never arrived.

Police contacted the woman's husband, and found that he was still at work and had not been detained by any government agency.