A Lower Saucon Township man was scammed out of $1,000 he put on reloadable debit cards in trying to purchase a 2002 Kubota farm tractor from a Craigslist seller in Logan, Utah, township police said Tuesday.
A Reloadit card package
In a news release, police said the 60-year-old Leithsville Road resident was trying to purchase the tractor for $2,000.
He was instructed by the seller–identified by police as Mona Noer, of 2805 Old Main Hill–to purchase the tractor through eBay with reloadable debit cards, and he “bought four $500 Reloadit cards to initiate the sale online,” police said in the news release.
The following day police said Noer instructed him to purchase $1,500 in Reloadit cards to pay for shipping insurance for the tractor.
“(The man) then believed he was being scammed, as that was never mentioned before,” police said.
Police said the man called eBay and was unable to verify the existence of the email address he had been using to correspond with the seller with them.
At that point two of the $500 money cards had been used, and he canceled the other two, they added.
On the Reloadit homepage, there is a prominent disclaimer that says in red, “Protect Yourself From Scams!”
“Do not provide the pack number from the back of the Reloadit pack to anyone over the phone you do not know or have not met in person,” the site advises its customers. “Providing your pack number is like sending cash and cannot be traced.”
The Reloadit card is described as “intended to load money onto reloadable prepaid cards. It is for personal use only–to add funds onto your own prepaid card or a family member’s…”
Locally the cards are sold at the Lower Saucon Township Giant and Turkey Hill Minit Market on Hellertown Road in Bethlehem, according to the Reloadit website.
The website states that purchasers are now required to sign up for “Reloadit Safe,” and even asks that “if you have been asked to provide Reloadit as a form of payment, please call 1 (888) 633-9434 prior to purchasing.”
Craigslist also recommends only dealing with local sellers in its “Scams” section. By dealing locally, face-to-face, 99 percent of scam attempts can be safely avoided, according to the popular online marketplace website.
A screen shot of the Reloadit homepage
