SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are again investigating alleged computer scams involving gift cards.

On Wednesday, a 66-year-old Salina man attempted to use his computer  only to find a message on the screen that said access was denied because the computer had been compromised and that he was to call the phone number listed, according to Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.

The man called the number and spoke to a person claiming to be with Microsoft who told him that someone had debited $20,000 on a credit card account belonging to the man and his 65-year-old wife and that the alleged Microsoft employee would clean up the problem for a fee paid for in prepaid gift cards, Forrester said.

The man then went to stores throughout Salina and purchased a total of $11,000 worth of gift cards and read over the phone to the alleged Microsoft employee the information on the back of the cards, according to Forrester.

After the couple checked with the credit card company, they determined that there was no such $20,000 transaction on their account.

On Wednesday, Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse reported his staff was seeing scammers use gift cards to steal money from the unsuspecting public. Scammers are telling their victims to buy gift cards (iTunes – Google Play, etc.,) at Walmart and other retail stores.   A recent victim to this scam was contacted by a scammer who told him that his computer had a “virus”, and the scammer had him believing they would fix the problem once he provided them a payment via a gift card.

Morse reminded, “Anyone who asks you to pay for anything, including tech support services with a gift card is scamming you. No legitimate company will ever ask you to pay with a gift card.”