'Diwali gift' to clients costs Bengaluru techie Rs 4.5 Lakh in scam

Scam

The Applecart turned upside down for this Bengaluru-based techie just ahead of Diwali when a "routine request from his boss" drove Rakesh Kumar (name changed) to fall prey to a classic 'Apple Gift Voucher' scam that cost him Rs 4.35 lakh.

It all started with a seemingly urgent message from his boss, who appeared to be contacting him from the UK. The request was straightforward: purchase a series of Apple gift vouchers, a Diwali gesture meant to impress important clients. The engineer, eager to make a good impression as a fresh recruit, didn't hesitate.

“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 a WhatsApp message on October 13 from his superior.

Using the popular payment app, he swiftly bought the vouchers that cost him Rs 4.35 lakh and shared the voucher codes as instructed.

The red flag became apparent only when Kumar casually mentioned the “gifting gesture” to his HR department during a check-in. It was then that the reality hit—the request had never come from his actual boss.

The stunned engineer quickly reported the incident and filed an FIR the next day at Bellandur Cyber Crime branch. The local authorities are now investigating the case, warning others 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. I couldn’t get the IDs blocked or get any respite immediately in recovering the misused funds and had to wait till morning for Apple support to open,” the victim said.

Gift card Scams: A growing threat

Gift cards have become a favourite tool for scammers because they’re easy to buy, simple to share, hard to trace, and almost impossible to get a refund for once the money is spent.

These scams include phishing, impersonation, or any tactic where fraudsters demand gift cards as payment. Different scammers prefer different types, but the most common targets are gift cards from Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Paytm, PhonePe, and other popular payment apps.

Although gift cards are a legitimate way to pay for goods and services, companies treat them like cash, making them a prime target for scammers. According to a senior official at Cyber Crime, awareness is the key to fighting these scams. While banks have improved their risk systems to detect suspicious peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, it’s hard to intervene if a real and legitimate user buys and shares gift card codes with scammers.

“Once you share the numbers and PIN on a gift card with a scammer, they can spend it instantly. By then, the money is lost and laundered.”

Retailers can't often trace gift cards and consumers struggle to prove they didn’t use them. Scammers know that as soon as a gift card’s balance is spent, the money is gone. Even if a gift card can be tracked, scammers often move the money into untraceable cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. If you have a gift card’s code and PIN, it’s treated as yours—no name is attached to it.

Microsoft cyber signals report highlights growing gift card fraud

Watch out for red flags

Gift card scams frequently happen over the phone. Scammers may claim to be from tech support, a well-known organisation, or a government agency. They often threaten victims with fines, bogus payments, or even jail if they don’t pay with gift cards. Another scam involves fraudsters posing as your bank’s fraud department, telling you that your account is compromised and asking you to buy gift cards to "protect" your money.

Not all scams are digital. Scammers may copy down gift card numbers from store displays, replace the back with a similar sticker, and steal the money once the card is activated. In some cases, they even place their own barcodes over the original ones, redirecting funds to their own accounts.

Romance scams are also a major problem in India, with some reports suggesting 43 percent of Indians have been victims. In these scams, fraudsters create fake profiles on dating apps, build emotional connections, and then ask for gift cards as gifts or for help in emergencies.

Another version involves hackers taking over a friend’s social media or email account, asking for “help” to buy gift cards for a mutual friend. Scammers also lure victims with fake sweepstakes, telling them they’ve won a prize but must pay “taxes” or “fees” with gift cards first.

Festive seasons are a peak time for these scams. Fraudsters offer fake temporary or remote jobs, send a fake check, and instruct victims to buy prepaid gift cards and send the details to the “employer”. After a few days, the check bounces, and the victim is left to cover the loss.