A burgeoning scam impersonates Amazon or another big retailer, claiming you are owed a refund and that you need to call a number or click a link to get it processed.

These paths always lead to a scammer – who will ingratiate himself to you and then convince you to allow them to remotely access your device.

They will “show” you the refund owed (let’s say it’s $100). Then they will convince you to sign into your bank account online so the scammer can “show” you the deposit they are ready to make – only they show you a fake page in which it appears they mistakenly refunded you $10,000, for example. They swear they will be fired if you don’t help recover the mistake and ultimately seek to convince you to send the money back by purchasing a prepaid debit or gift card for the amount and reading the numbers off the back.

You buy $9,900 in gift cards, share the information and are immediately out $9,900.

Know this – retailers don’t work this way. And anytime you are asked to purchase a gift card – to buy something, to pay an obligation – anything, it’s a scam 100 percent of the time.

Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.

Visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at www.aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork or call the AARP Fraud Watch Helpline at 1-877-908-3360.