BBB Scam Alert: It’s Not Your Boss Texting You

You may be used to receiving texts and emails from your boss, which is why a recent text message scam is so effective. Scammers find out where you work and pretend to be the CEO or another executive. Be on your guard and don’t share any money or information, whether it’s yours or your company’s.

How the scam works
You receive a text message from a number you don’t recognize, claiming to be from your boss. The sender knows your name, your place of work, and your boss’s name. It feels so real! The text message might look something like this: “Hey Chris, I’m on a conference call right now, but let me know if you get this text. Thanks (your boss’s name).”

In a recent BBB Scam Tracker report, one consumer shared this experience: “I received a text message pretending to be my boss while I was stuck in a meeting. He wanted me to buy gift cards. He also texted people I know pretending to be my boss, as if they were texting me.”

If you respond that you received the text message, you’ll be asked to complete a quick task. This could be purchasing gift cards for a customer or transferring funds to another business. In some cases, the scammer may ask you to send someone personal information, often giving you a plausible reason to complete the request.

In another BBB Scam Tracker report, a victim reported losing over $1,000 to a gift card scam. “The scammer contacted me pretending to be my boss and said he needed an urgent task done. He told me it had to be kept secret because he wanted to surprise the employees for a job well done last month with gift cards. He asked me to go to the nearest store and get 5 gift cards. He asked for Apple and eBay cards, but they didn’t have any, so he told me to get 5 Vanilla Visa gift cards and load $200 onto each card. He said I would be refunded by the end of the day. I bought the cards with my own money and was asked to send pictures of the receipt.” I did, and then he asked me to send the front and back of the cards, and for some reason I did that too. I didn’t realize it was a scam until I contacted my boss. I was able to contact Vanilla and put the cards on hold before the funds were used. “But now the funds are frozen and placed on a gift card and I have no access to the money for a possibly unknown amount of time. The scammer played on my need to be a good employee and it worked.”

No matter how credible the reason, always double check before you act. Once you send the money, gift cards, or information, it will be in the hands of a scammer.

How to protect yourself from imposter scams

● Don’t trust unsolicited messages from unknown numbers. If your boss regularly communicates with you via text message, save his or her number in your contact list. Don’t respond to potential impersonators who contact you from another number.

● Be wary of unusual requests. If your boss has never asked you to buy gift cards, even if the request comes from a number you have saved, think twice. Scammers can potentially clone phone numbers and may have hijacked your boss’s number to target employees.
● Check with your boss personally. If a request comes from a strange number or doesn’t seem legitimate, call or email your boss first, using their real contact information, rather than responding to the message. It’s better to double-check than to rush into a scam. Plus, your boss will want to know if it’s a scam so they can warn other employees.
● If you suspect a scam, don’t respond. If you’re pretty sure you’ve been contacted by a scammer, don’t respond to the text message. By responding, you’re letting scammers know they have an active phone number and could leave you vulnerable to future attacks. Instead, block the number and delete the message.