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Original poster

Another scam doing the rounds

17 replies

Listentogold · 09/04/2024 16:27

I have an email account on my phone for a social club I help at.
Just received an email from one of our supposedly member, asking
if we can do him a favour. (Very long standing member)
It had to be by email as he had a bad throat infection and couldn't talk.
I replied to this email asking what he wanted.
The reply was asking if we could buy him some apple gift cards for his friend
the reason is his card is playing up. And he would reimburse us asap.
I replied no can do.
Told our son and he said it's a scam.
I have now deleted the email account from my phone.

OP posts:
Justhereforthechristmasthreads · 09/04/2024 16:30

You need to contact said member by an alternative method. They are probably unaware their account has been hacked and will need to secure their email account

Original poster
Listentogold · 09/04/2024 16:31

@Justhereforthechristmasthreads yes another committee member is going to their house and explaining.

OP posts:
LIZS · 09/04/2024 16:31

I get them fairly frequently from different "members" of a group I belong to. Often they are "in a meeting" so can't speak but need a favour, Apple vouchers are a favourite. Just delete

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FizzyStream · 09/04/2024 16:34

My 80yo step dad got scammed into buying £2k worth of Apple gift cards. He was so sure it was a genuine request. These people are scum.

ButterflyKu · 09/04/2024 16:35

Haven’t come across this one before, thanks for the heads up!

vodkaredbullgirl · 09/04/2024 16:37

There was something on TV, where a woman was conned out of hundreds by apple gift cards.

DrJoanAllenby · 09/04/2024 16:42

The standard one for a hacked email is to write to contacts saying they have lost bank card on holiday and can't pay journey home and can their dear friend transfer money to the wife or husbands account and they give the scammers financial details to pay it to and they'll reimburse you when they are home.

BlancheSaysYes · 09/04/2024 16:43

I've had the 'mum, it's me, I'm using my friend's phone, I'm in trouble' WhatsApp message again recently so that's another one to be on the lookout for.

LlynTegid · 09/04/2024 16:45

New one I'd not heard of, thanks for letting us know OP.

LiterallyOnFire · 09/04/2024 16:46

If it smells wrong, then it is always always a scam.

Why did you reply to them though?

MagpiePi · 09/04/2024 16:46

I had one supposedly from a man asking for money because his daughter was stuck abroad. I know it was a scam because he doesn't have a daughter, and he is one of the richest people I know!

HappiestSleeping · 09/04/2024 16:47

Receiving an email from someone that turns out to actually be from a different person (scam) does not automatically mean their email account has been hacked. It just means that someone know their email address and yours. In this instance, it sounds likely that the group email has been accessed, but I could make an email look like it came from someone else very easily.

So could all of you, it doesn't take any special equipment, just the standard mail application.

RandomUsernameHere · 09/04/2024 16:49

My DMum had something similar, received an email from a friend's account asking if she could buy a gift card as the friend was travelling and it was her niece's birthday. Luckily she forwarded the email to me and I told her it was a scam.

CointreauVersial · 09/04/2024 16:52

DH got caught recently - email from his boss, who was "in a meeting", asking him to buy gift cards. Started with Amazon, then sent him off to Morrisons to pick up some other types. Then sent him to an iStore for Apple vouchers, but the guy in the shop said they'd stopped doing them, because of all the scams.....at which point the penny slowly started dropping. He lost £1,000.

He immediately contacted his bank fraud department, and they said he might possibly get his money back, but I don't hold out much hope. I can't believe he could be so stupid......he came home and started telling us about his day, and the moment he started mentioning gift vouchers DS and I just went "noooooo".

And barely a week after that, he was made redundant. We're not having a good month. Sad

Andthereyougo · 09/04/2024 16:53

I had one purportedly from a friend stuck in USA, send money.
That's odd I thought, only spoke to Carol yesterday and she’s in Spain.

The gift cards scam I suppose has come about as it removes the recipient from being identified when they sell them on.

Read on newsfeed today about a woman (60s) who “Gary Barlow” contacted via FB. She believed it was him for a few weeks and then found he was a 20 something in Nigeria, who by then was in love with her of course………

CointreauVersial · 09/04/2024 16:54

It was a proper spear-phishing attack - they knew the names of people in the company, targeted DH because he was fairly new, spoofed proper email details. Fuckers.

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