Boss Gift Card Request Scam
Scammers impersonate your boss or CEO via email or text, urgently requesting gift card purchases. Once you send the codes, the money is stolen instantly.
🚩 Red Flags
- ⚠Unusual request from boss via text or personal email
- ⚠Extreme urgency with phrases like "needed ASAP"
- ⚠Emphasis on secrecy and confidentiality
- ⚠Request specifically for gift cards
- ⚠Boss claims to be unavailable by phone
- ⚠Email address slightly different from official domain
🛡️ Protect Yourself
- →STOP: Do not purchase any gift cards
- →VERIFY: Call your boss directly using a known phone number
- →REPORT: Forward the email to IT security
- →If you sent codes: Report to bank and file police report
More Details
- “Are you available for a quick task?”
- “I need you to purchase some gift cards for me”
- “Keep this confidential until announced”
- “I'm in a meeting and can't talk right now”
- “Send me the redemption codes when done”
- “I'll reimburse you later today”
- “This is urgent - needed within the hour”
Common Questions
Gift cards are untraceable instant cash. Once you read the codes, money is gone in minutes. No legitimate entity ever asks for gift card payment.
Usually no. Zelle is instant and irreversible. Banks rarely refund "authorized" transfers. Report immediately but prepare for loss.
Scammer sends check for more than owed, asks you to wire back extra. Check bounces weeks later — you owe the bank everything.
Almost certainly fake. Call your boss on a known number to verify. Scammers research companies and impersonate executives.
Report This Scam
If you've encountered this scam, report it to help protect others.
Warn Someone You Know
Know someone who might fall for this? Share this warning with them.
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73% of Americans targeted(Pew, 2025)
|$470M lost to text scams in 2024(FTC)
|$16.6B total losses(FBI IC3, 2024)