Several scams are asking individuals to make payments over the phone for things such as taxes, hospital bills, bail money, debt collection, and utility bills.

The scams attempt to take payment in different methods, including but not limited to gift cards. As the fraudsters often ask for codes from Apple Gift Cards, App Store & iTunes Gift Cards or Apple Store Gift Cards.

Apple wants to make sure their customers are aware of these scams.

The scam follows a certain formula: The victim receives a call instilling panic and urgency to make a payment by purchasing Apple Gift Cards, App Store & iTunes Gift Cards or Apple Store Gift Cards from the nearest retailer (convenience store, electronics retailer, etc.). Once the victim purchases the gift card, the victim is asked to pay by sharing the code(s) with the caller over the phone.

Apple Gift Cards and App Store & iTunes Gift Cards can be used only to purchase goods and services from Apple — including from Apple Retail Stores, apple.com, the App Store, iTunes Store, Apple Books, for subscriptions to Apple services like Apple Music, Apple News+, and Apple Arcade, or for iCloud storage.

Apple Store Gift Cards can only be redeemed on the Apple Online Store and at Apple Retail Stores. If you’re asked to use the cards for any other payment, you are likely a target of a scam. In this case, you should immediately contact your local police department and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

This article was originally sourced by apple.com