MONROE — Police are warning residents to be on the lookout for another online financial scam that has been reported in the area.

The scammers get the victim’s name when they sign up for a sweepstakes or survey, ostensibly to win an Apple iPad or other electronics. Once the survey is completed, the entrant is asked to provide a debit or credit card number to cover “shipping and handling” of the item they won.

As a result, those who are victims of the scam are seeing multiple charges on the cards, some for as much as $200. When contacting the company, consumers are told that the charge is actually the “initial sign-up cost” for a membership for a monthly drawing and no prize is sent.

“I would strongly encourage anyone against taking any survey or entering sweepstakes online, especially if you have to give your debit card number to win,” said Monroe Police Department Det. Sgt. Dan Skatrud in a statement. 

An area bank, he said, noted that some individual customers have lost enough money through the scam to pay for multiple iPad computers had they purchased them outright.

— Gary Mays