Police warn over Apple gift card scam as fraudsters fleece well-intentioned ... trends now
Police are warning UK residents to remain vigilant against a sophisticated Apple gift card scam that fraudsters use to fleece well-intentioned victims.
Con artists impersonate a friend or family member from your email list and ask you to send a gift card over as a matter of urgency - putting cash you can't retrieve in their hands in seconds.
The online thieves gain access to a person's email address and then write to all of their contacts asking for help – using information from the account and replicating the manner in which they speak.
The next step in the scam is to create a sense of urgency and a reason to purchase them high-value gift cards.
One person who spoke to Mail Online anonymously said they were contacted by their elderly neighbour and were eager to help them.
Her neighbour, who had recently had a heart operation, wrote to the victim saying that they were in hospital but wanted to buy their niece a birthday present.
Con artists impersonate a friend or family member from your email list and ask you to send a gift card over as a matter of urgency
Police are warning UK residents to remain vigilant against a sophisticated scam that fraudsters use to fleece well-intentioned victims into sending over Apple gift cards
The woman who received the email regularly helps her neighbour, so the request didn't seem out of the ordinary and was written 'mimicking' her usual tone.
She believes the scammers read through emails on the account to learn as much information as they could - to make their own impersonation seem realistic.
In further emails the scammer, pretending to be the elderly woman, said it was their niece's birthday today and that they urgently needed to get gift cards but had been unable to do so in hospital.
The victim said if their 'neighbour' had immediately requested money through gift cards in their first email they would have been very wary. However they exchanged multiple emails before she sent over any money.
The scammer specifically asked for two £100 Apple gift cards from Tesco's website.
The victim, who was at work at the time, agreed to send the gift cards and even received a reply on if whether they wanted the gift card to be signed with 'aunt' or 'aunty'.
Shortly after purchasing the card Tesco's fraud team called and said they have seen a surge in scams on Apple gift cards and would try to cancel the transaction. The victim contacted her bank, who said they
