Scam alert: Myrtle Beach woman loses $500 to phony TV discount offer

An elderly woman in Myrtle Beach was scammed out of $500 due to a fraudulent phone call, according to Myrtle Beach police records.

On March 21, the 70-year-old received a text message from 1-888-340-0315, falsely claiming to be from Direct TV. The text offered a 50 percent discount on services for two years in exchange for $500 worth of eBay gift cards.

The woman went to a nearby grocery store and bought three gift cards for the online auction site. She called the number back and gave the gift card numbers.

After she hung up, she called the police realizing she might have been scammed. The officer recognized the number as a known scam and a report was filed, according to authorities.

The U.S. Government has a database of known scams. Folks can also report a scam number.

This story was originally published March 22, 2019 at 11:28 AM.