Beware of Green Dot MoneyPak Scams

The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be on guard for a rising tide of scams involving Green Dot MoneyPaks, reloadable debit cards that are widely available nationwide at more than 50,000 locations.

Moneypaks can be used for funding PayPal accounts and to pay phone, cable or credit card bills. But the BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's (DPS) Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) say criminals are also using them to fleece consumers.

The BBB and the DPS have recently noted a "significant increase" in various schemes where fraudsters tried or succeeded in collecting payments via MoneyPak for merchandise, advance fee loans or sweepstakes prizes -- all of which turned out to be either fraudulent or nonexistent.