"Can You Do Me A Favor?"

Picture this. Your friend from college, your family member, your boss, a trusted leader in your church, or someone close to you emails you asking for a favor. Most of us would bend over backward to help those we care about, right? So when your boss asks you to pick up a few iTunes gift cards for an employee incentive, or your pastor asks for a Home Depot gift card to help a church family repair their basement after a flood, you don’t think twice. After all, they are very busy, and they promised they would reimburse you next week when they are back in the office. You have no reason to distrust them. This may be a person you have known for years, so you see no problem doing what they ask.

Unfortunately, scammers know all too well how willing people are to help others. They exploit this and use it to their advantage.

How the scam works

Fraudsters do their homework. They spend a lot of time looking at the patterns of the "mark." They know who works at the company and what their email address is (usually to spoof it). They may even send a spam email looking for an auto-reply to confirm that the person is out of the office – something which would add credibility to their story.

Next, they reach out to an employee for a favor. Initially, they may just say something innocuous to open the line of communication. The first email might simply ask the employee when they are available. Once the employee replies, then the scammer can initiate the ploy.

The follow-up message may be a very convincing email with a request. “Can you do me a favor? I am so swamped with a project and need to have you pick up 10 gift cards for the staff meeting. Let me know when you have them, and please send me the info on the card so I can submit the reimbursement request for you. Remember, don’t tell anyone – it’s a surprise!”

Once the victim complies, the scam has been completed. The thing about gift cards is that they are like cash. There is virtually no way of getting that money back. Even more reason to be sure that you are acting on a legitimate request.

How do you fight back?

Fortunately, in this case, there is an easy way to determine if you are the target of a scam. Pick up the phone (remember those things? J) and call the “sender” to see if they really reached out to you. As always, I would encourage you to use a known and trusted number and not a number provided in the email.

Scams aren’t going away, so stay diligent!

Need some human interaction? You can email me directly, or just leave a comment below.

Krista Kyte is a personal finance blogger and personal banker with over 17 years of experience in the financial industry. Krista is passionate about helping our members understand their financial situations. She writes tips that will help consumers reach and maintain financial security, and start living the life they’ve always wanted.