OCEANSIDE, Calif. — Albert Gietzen is embarrassed he fell for a scam. “There was this big alert that came up on the screen and it said, ‘Stop. Your computer's been compromised,’” the Vista resident recalled.
“I was under a lot of stress at the time because of my cancer diagnosis, which may have made me more susceptible,” he said.
Thinking the pop-up originated from Microsoft, Gietzen called the phone number displayed on the screen. The man who answered said Gietzen’s bank account had been hacked. “I was kind of going into a panic at that point, because I couldn't afford to lose $12,000. I mean, that's a big chunk of my life savings,” said Gietzen.
It’s called a gift card scam, and authorities say it’s fairly common.
“I went to the bank and withdrew $12,000,” said Gietzen.
At the urging of the scammer, Gietzen then purchased twelve, $1,000 gift cards from the Home Depot on Vista Avenue in Oceanside. “I leave the store, and the (scammer) says, ‘Okay, now that you're out of store, go to your car. I want you to scratch off the back of each of these cards and read me the numbers. We've got to have the numbers,’” said Gietzen, who still believed he was on the phone with Microsoft.
That’s when Gietzen was suddenly sideswiped by a car. Two nearby sheriff deputies saw the collision and responded. They started asking Gietzen who he was speaking to on the phone.
“(The deputy) said, ‘Hang up the phone. Must be a scam,’” recalled Gietzen.
Both deputies then escorted Gietzen to the nearest Home Depot on Melrose Drive in Vista. Gietzen said they spoke with a customer service agent, who assured them she had cancelled the gift cards and the $12,000 would be refunded.
Weeks later, Gietzen said he received a notice from Home Depot saying the gift cards had been used, and he would not be getting a refund.
In early September, Gietzen filed a lawsuit.
“We had two deputies who were there at the counter inside Home Depot, watching my client as he was parading through 12 different gift certificate numbers. The person at the cash register saying, okay, no money's been spent. The coast is clear. You're going to be fine. I blocked all these numbers,” said attorney Lenden Webb, who represents Gietzen.
“We had to file a suit. We filed it on September 3 saying, hey guys, you have some form of elder abuse here, some form of negligence,” said Webb.
Shortly thereafter, Gietzen met with CBS 8’s Working for You team.
One day after CBS 8 emailed Home Depot, the company agreed to refund Gietzen’s money. Home Depot also has a tentative settlement agreement pending to pay a portion of Gietzen’s legal fees.
“I appreciate that CBS got involved, not only to help me get my refund, but also (for) public awareness of things that are going on with these scams,” said Gietzen.
Home Depot emailed CBS 8 the following statement:
“Gift card scams are an increasingly popular way for criminals to use numerous retailers to target victims. We are closely monitoring this type of activity and have prevention measures in place to help combat this illegal activity, including purchase limits that are more rigorous than what’s required through The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. We also partner with law enforcement on these cases.”
Here are some tips: If you get an alert telling you to call a phone number, experts say, don't call. If you get a phone call from an unknown number, hang up. If you still have concerns, call the company's verified phone number yourself.
At CBS 8, we are always Working for You and our community. This is a station promise that we will go the extra mile to solve a problem our audience can’t solve themselves. We want to hear your ideas on how we can cover and help our community. If you have a story idea, please email us at workingforyou@cbs8.com.
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