Don’t let a gift card scam happen to you!


Gift card scams are on the rise, so it’s more important than ever to be informed. In Erie County, we want to educate consumers and prevent them from falling victim to such scams.

Scammers often ask for gift cards as payment, as these types of funds are nearly impossible to trace. According to the Federal Trade Commission, one-quarter of all consumer fraud reported in the United States involving money loss is connected to gift cards, with total losses of $217 million in 2023.

Under New York State General Business Law, all businesses selling gift cards must display a notice, at or near where any gift card or gift certificate is displayed or sold, to caution consumers about gift card fraud.

Remember: gift cards should only be used for gifts, not to make payments of any kind.

If you receive any communication asking for payment in the form of a gift card, don’t respond—it’s a scam! And please contact the Erie County Office of Consumer Protection at 716-858-1987.

Learn more about the Erie County Office of Consumer Protection at: https://erie.gov/ConsumerProtection

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Trump admin gets sharp rebuke as judge outright terminates high-profile deportation case



An immigration judge has axed the Trump administration's deportation case against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist, marking another major legal blow to the government's crackdown on college campus demonstrators in recent weeks.

The judge terminated the case after determining the government failed to properly authenticate a crucial document, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Mahdawi's legal team. The 35-year-old Palestinian green-card holder faced charges of posing a "foreign-policy threat" to the U.S. following his detention in April at a citizenship interview in Vermont.

"I am grateful to the court for honoring the rule of law and holding the line against the government’s attempts to trample on due process," Mahdawi said.

Mahdawi arrived in the U.S. in 2014 after growing up in a West Bank refugee camp. He organized demonstrations at the Ivy League institution during the administration's spring campus crackdown targeting what it characterized as antisemitism and extremist ideology. He was among several high-profile activists detained and accused of threatening national security through their activism.

Though the dismissal prevents immediate deportation, the administration retains options to appeal or refile charges. Mahdawi's case follows the recent dismissal of charges against Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk, who spent weeks in detention after police arrested her on a street, claiming she posed a deportation risk for co-writing a pro-Palestinian opinion piece.