New Gift Card Scam Email Circulating In Ocean County

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Scammers will try anything to get you to part ways with your money. Law enforcement sees it over and over again.

And they're continuously trying to come up with new ways to do it.

An email making the rounds begs recipients to help the sender get an iTunes gift card with a promise of repayment, and says the card is needed urgently.

The sender says he can't get the card himself "right now because I'm currently traveling for a 2 days trip which is time sensitive."

Don't fall for it and don't let your family members fall for it. Report the email to your local police department and delete it.

As a reminder, government agencies and utility companies don't request and won't accept payment in iTunes or other gift cards.

A few other reminders:

1. Be leery about anyone calling on the phone about any emergency. Get a phone number to call back and verify the whereabouts and safety of the person the call is about.
2. Never give out Social Security, Medicare or financial account information over the phone.
3. In general, avoid answering calls from numbers you don't recognize.
4. Don't confirm any personal information.
5. Don't press any numbers to stop calls. That will likely increase the number of robocalls you get, signaling to the scammers they've reached an active number.
6. Change your voicemail message so it doesn't reveal your name or other personal information. If you want a legitimate caller to know they've reached you, go ahead and put your phone number on the message.
7. Don't return calls that claim to be from the IRS, the Social Security Administration, your bank, your utilities companies or a local police or sheriff's department. If you think the message is legitimate, don't return the number left on a voicemail. Instead, look up the legitimate phone number.