Is my boss really asking me to buy gift cards?
From: David Chen <david.chen8824@gmail.com> Display name: David Chen (CEO) Hi, Are you at your desk? I need a favor handled quietly before end of day. We're doing a surprise appreciation gift for the team and I need you to pick up 5 Apple gift cards, $200 each. Don't mention it to anyone yet, I want it to be a surprise. Once you have them, scratch off the back and send me photos of the codes. I'm stuck in board meetings all afternoon so email is best. Thanks for helping with this. David Sent from my iPhone
Scam. The FTC's rule is absolute and worth holding onto: gift cards are for gifts, not payments, and only a scammer asks to be paid in them. A manager who genuinely needed something bought would not need the numbers off the back read out, and would not need it done before you could walk over and ask.
How to spot this scam
- The request arrives by email or text rather than in person, often from a lookalike address or an unknown number claiming to be a personal one.
- It is gift cards specifically, and the numbers on the back are what is wanted. Once read out, the money is gone and cannot be recalled.
- You are asked to keep it quiet, or told they are in a meeting and cannot take a call. That isolation is the technique.
- The tone is urgent but vague about why, and the reimbursement is always promised for later.
- The signature or writing style is slightly off, or the reply-to address differs from the display name.
- It targets someone with purchasing ability but little reason to question the sender, which is why new starters and assistants get it most.
What to do now
- Do not buy anything. Verify by contacting your colleague on a number or channel you already had, never by replying.
- Tell your finance or IT team, because the same message usually goes to several people at once.
- If cards were already bought, keep the cards and the receipts and call the card issuer immediately. The FTC's guidance is that acting fast sometimes gets money back.
- Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the issuer of each card.
- Preserve the message with its headers rather than deleting it, so the pattern can be traced.
- Treat any future payment request that arrives only by message as unverified until you have spoken to a human.
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Sources and reporting
Use official channels to confirm a suspicious request and report fraud.