Up pops a text with a tone of urgency. It’s a message from your CEO; a bit unusual, it’s a request for you to purchase several Apple gift cards for clients. Don’t fall for it.
Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report, for Fox News:
The “CEO Apple Gift Card Scam” is as cunning as it is simple. Scammers impersonate high-ranking company officials, sending emails or texts to employees with an “urgent” request to buy gift cards for various reasons.
The scammer will often pressure the employee to act quickly and keep the request confidential. Once the gift cards are purchased, the scammer asks for the card numbers and PINs, making off with potentially thousands of dollars before the employee realizes they’ve been duped.
Apple is aware of the problem and is taking steps to protect customers who may find themselves at an Apple Store about to shell out a couple of grand on quickly purchased gift cards.
MacDailyNews Note: Knutsson reached out to Apple, and this is the statement they provided: “Apple works closely with retailers, law enforcement, and gift card enablers to identify and prevent gift card scams, as well as provide warnings directly to consumers through in-store signage and on gift card packaging to remind them not to share the number on the back of the card with other people.”
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I’ve experienced a different Apple related scan. I get a phone call spoofing the Apple Card support line (800 number). When I answer the guy starts in with they’ve seen some sketchy charges and have turned them down. By this time I figured out it was a scam. The guy had a vaguely East European accent and awkward wording. I asked him what country he was calling from and he said he was calling from “The United States of America.” Right.
I called Apple and in the options there was one to report fraud and the message said Apple was aware of this so it must be pretty common.
This “Are you available” scam has been around for years. We’ve seen it come in waves and its usually for a “niece’s birthday” to why they need to gift card.