NEW KENT, Va. (WRIC) — The New Kent Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about an Amazon scam that is circulating in the community.

According to the New Kent Sheriff’s Office, citizens are being contacted by scammers pretending to be representatives from Amazon. The Sheriff’s office said fake Amazon representatives are calling members of the community and telling them that a purchase was made on their account. The alleged representative tells the victim that money has been deposited in their personal bank account by mistake.

The fake Amazon representative then tells the caller to purchase gift cards from various locations to cancel out the accidental deposit. According to the New Kent Sheriff’s Office, this is a scam and the deposit into your account is a fraudulent electronic transfer.

“The ploy is that once the amount has been paid back for the incorrect deposit the citizen is not in violation of the law,” the New Kent Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The victim is told to call the alleged representative back after they buy the gift cards and read the cards’ numbers to them. The office said during the call, citizens are threatened with arrest, a freeze on their state and federal taxes and/or benefits if they don’t comply– all of which are false.

Leslie Blackwell, the Director of Public Affairs for the Better Business Bureau…