Gift Card Phishing Scam Using Email Addresses of Bosses’ is Latest Trend Adopted by Scammers

A latest phishing scam related to gift cards has now become a new way to fool people. These phishing emails have become all the more successful in fooling people, as they appear as if they have come from their bosses.

Steve Bernas, head of Better Business Bureau, Chicago branch, is the one who hears about scams day and night. Moreover, a scam tracker runs, by his office, on their website. However, he got a direct look at this latest gift card phishing scam, when one of Steve's employees received a phishing email, which asked her to purchase gift cards for the rest of the employees of his office. The email appeared as if it has been sent from the boss himself. But the fact is the email came from an overseas scammer.

Steve Bernas showed his concern by stating that if the scammers have the potential to hit Better Business Bureau, they have the capability to hit anybody; and therefore they are doing it so efficiently, sending emails that appear to have come from the boss.

The employee of Better Business Bureau named Debby Sullo was the one who got targeted by this phishing scam. She got suspicious when she received an email pretending to have come from her boss, early this month, which asked her to purchase gift cards for the other employees and keeping this a secret as it would be a surprise for them. However, as she became suspicious, so she called up her boss to confirm the same. "It was like this doesn't seem right, and it wasn't", she said. She was thankful to God that she didn't went ahead and bought those gift cards, as whether she would ever have got her money back is a question.

As per Better Business Bureau, this phishing email fall under a sophisticated type of phishing scams - that asks the target to send money. Bernas said that, "these scammers are doing a little more research getting the name of the CEO or the CFO who is paying the bills".

Better Business Bureau also added that the scammers through this scam emails were targeting people all around U.S.

» SPAMfighter News - 11/6/2018