Iowa woman warns new twist on Facebook scam stealing identification | #datingscams | #lovescams | #facebookscams

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa. (WOWT) – A 6 On Your Side warning about a new twist to an old scam. In this case, the loss isn’t money but still something very valuable.

What are friends for? Sally discovered scammers know that’s how to gain a victim’s trust.

“And they’re using one of my friends off my messenger and Facebook to scam me and play them to get to me, to get the money,” said Sally.

If she paid $500 through a cash card to get a grant of $50,000. Is the message from a longtime friend or so she thought?

“I was going to buy a $500 Google card if they had it, but they didn’t have it, thank God, or I would have been scammed,” said Sally.

But she was and not by having money stolen.

“They wanted some sort of picture for identification and dummy me I sent them a picture of my driver’s license,” said Sally.

That’s her identity so she’s embarrassed to have others know who she is through scammers, which could make her name popular on the dark web.

Sally is worried because now scammers have a picture of her driver’s license and have stolen her identity so she’ll likely start getting bills in the mail for merchandise and other things she didn’t buy or agree to.

One Source Background Checks have found that drivers’ license information is often used to hide a true identity.

“You have to be really careful because someone can give your ID if they anything at all like you to a police officer if stopped for speeding or a misdemeanor crime and not get fingerprinted. That can show up on your record and we see that often actually,” said Nick Jasa, One Source Background Checks.

The scam promised Sally that money would be delivered to her apartment.

“$50,000 and no scam because it’s right from the government,” said Sally.

Instead by sending a picture of her driver’s license to scammers, she’s nervously hoping that bill collectors or the authorities won’t come knocking on her door.

“I don’t know what they can do to me, I just hope they don’t,” said Sally.

The Iowa Department of Transportation has an online system to report a stolen driver’s license. In this case, the victim also filed a police report to verify she’s a victim of identity theft.

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