Fraudsters Use Best Buy To Enact Scams On Avon Lake Residents

AVON LAKE, OH — Best Buy incidentally played a pivotal part in two fraud schemes that ensnared Avon Lake residents in the past few weeks. In one case, a fraudster used an Avon Lake resident's personal information to open a credit card with the electronics retailer. In the other, a woman was bamboozled into sending gift card information to a fraudster posing as an IRS agent.

On Feb. 24, an Avon Lake woman came to the police department to report that her identity had been stolen. She said that someone opened a Best Buy credit card in her name. The account had been opened at some point in February 2018.

The card had been used to make more than $2,700 in purchases from Best Buy stores in Utah. Sadly, police said the case is closed due to a lack of evidence.

Two days later, on Feb. 26, a different Avon Lake woman sought police help in a fraud and theft case. The woman said she had gotten a call from someone claiming to be with the IRS. That supposed agent said the woman owed money for unpaid taxes.

The caller told the woman she would need to pay her back taxes using Best Buy gift cards. The resident was told to go get the cards and then read the card numbers to the agent over the phone.

The woman, undoubtedly thinking she was in trouble, followed the instructions. She bought more than $3,800 in gift cards and read the card information to the supposed IRS agent.

It was only after that she got suspicious and contacted police. Officers discovered the cards were used at a Best Buy store in New Hampshire, but the case is now closed due to a lack of evidence, police records say.

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