If anyone–the IRS, the electric company, the police–calls you and asks you to buy a prepaid Visa card or a gift card to pay your bill over the phone, it's not who you think it is. They'll tell you to scratch the numbers off the back and read them the numbers. This is a ploy by scammers to get money from you. Don't fall for it! 

This tip was inspired by a recent real-life story of a phone scam that terrified a woman in the San Francisco area: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/phone-scam-therapists-16483251.php

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