Two Crawford County residents are out money after being hit by scammers in separate incidents in March, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

A 71-year-old Meadville man on March 21 told troopers his computer froze up, and a message appeared on his screen to call a phone number.

A man on the phone told him the only way to fix the computer was to pay $5,000 using store-bought gift cards, according to investigators.

The victim bought $5,000 worth of gift cards, provided the card information over the phone and realized it was a scam when the computer was still not operational, state police said.

The next day, a 61-year-old Conneaut Lake woman told troopers she was contacted on Facebook by multiple accounts advising her of an opportunity to apply for a federal grant.

She was told to purchase $3,600 in gift cards and send picture of the gift card information to the Facebook accounts to apply for grant, and told she would receive a refund for all the gift cards purchased once the grant money was obtained, according to state police.

The victim reported the incident after realizing she had been scammed, investigators said.