As Diwali approaches, many of us are gearing up to buy gifts for our loved ones. But this festive season also brings an uptick in scams, as a Bengaluru-based techie recently found out. Rakesh Kumar (name changed), an IT engineer, lost Rs 4.35 lakh to a classic ‘Apple Gift Voucher’ scam just days before Diwali, after he received what he thought was a simple request from his boss.
It all began on October 13, when Kumar received an urgent WhatsApp message from someone posing as his boss, who appeared to be contacting him from the UK, reports Moneycontrol. The message requested him to buy a series of Apple gift vouchers for clients in India, explaining that it was a Diwali gesture to impress them. Being a new recruit and eager to please, Kumar quickly agreed.
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“I am currently engaged in a conference call meeting and I need you to run a quick assignment. We need to provide our clients in India with some gift cards, can you confirm if we can get apple app store cards from Paytm…,” read the message from his supposed superior.
Following the instructions, Kumar bought the vouchers through Paytm, spending a total of Rs 4.35 lakh. He then shared the codes as instructed. The scam came to light when he casually mentioned this to his HR team, who quickly realised the request was fake.
After discovering the truth, Kumar reported the incident to the Bellandur Cyber Crime branch. Local authorities have taken up the investigation, urging the public to be cautious of similar scams. “Apple’s customer support operates only Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm, which significantly limits victims’ ability to seek timely assistance,” the victim shared, adding that he had to wait till morning to seek help.
Gift card scams have become increasingly common because they are easy to purchase, share, and difficult to trace. Scammers often use phishing, impersonation, or any other tactic that allows them to convince victims to buy gift cards as payment. Other popular targets include gift cards from Google Pay, Amazon Pay, PhonePe, and more.
Awareness is key in combating these scams. While banks have systems to flag suspicious payments, it’s harder to prevent when a legitimate user willingly buys and shares gift card codes. To avoid falling victim, always double-check requests for gift cards, especially if they come via urgent messages, and verify with your employer directly.