Police warn over Apple gift card scam as fraudsters fleece well-intentioned victims

Police are warning UK residents to remain vigilant of a sophisticated Apple gift card scam that fraudsters are using to prey on well-meaning victims.

Scammers impersonate a friend or family member from your email list and ask you to urgently send a gift card, giving them money that you can’t collect within 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 way they speak.

The next step in the scam is to create a sense of urgency and a reason to buy them valuable gift cards.

One person who spoke anonymously to Mail Online said they had been contacted by their elderly neighbor and were eager to help.

Her neighbor, who had recently had heart surgery, wrote to the victim saying they were in hospital but wanted to buy a birthday present for their niece.

The woman who received the email regularly helps her neighbor, so the request didn’t seem unusual and was written in her usual tone.

She believes the scammers read emails on the account to learn as much information as possible – to make their own impersonation seem realistic.

In further emails, the scammer, posing as the older woman, said it was their niece’s birthday today and they urgently needed gift cards, but they couldn’t have done so at the hospital.

The victim said that if their “neighbor” had immediately asked for money via gift cards in their first email, they would have been very wary. However, they exchanged several emails before she transferred money.

The scammer specifically asked for two £100 Apple gift cards on Tesco’s website.

The victim, who was at work at the time, agreed to send the gift cards and even got a reply if they wanted the gift card signed “aunt” or “aunt.”

Shortly after purchasing the card, Tesco’s fraud team called and said they had seen a spate of scams on Apple gift cards and would try to cancel the transaction. The victim contacted her bank, who said they would also try to help.

After finding out she had been scammed, the victim received another email from the account posing as her elderly neighbor – this time asking for £400.

This time, the woman pressed for more details about her neighbor’s hospital stay. She received a reply that she had been in a nearby hospital for two weeks.

When the victim told the scammer that they saw their neighbor in the parking lot just a week ago, they stopped answering.

The victim, whose money has not yet been refunded, also discovered that her own mother had also been contacted through the same email account, but thankfully they deleted it.

Tesco’s website comes with a security warning before you buy Apple gift cards, it says ‘Keep your money safe. If you are ever asked to pay debts or bills with gift cards or to buy gift cards on behalf of someone else, it could be a scam.

‘Find out how to keep your money safe with tips and advice from Take Five at takefive-stopfraud.org.uk.’

Police in North Yorkshire issued a warning earlier this year following reports of a similar Apple gift card scam.

A spokesperson said: “The person who supposedly sent the email had been hacked and the message had been sent to everyone in their personal address book.”

The Corps urged others who received a message from friends or family asking for a gift card not to respond.

Apple itself has also issued a warning, they say: “A series of scams are taking place asking people to make payments over the phone for things like taxes, hospital bills, security deposits, collections and utility bills.

The scams are perpetrated using many methods, including gift cards.

“Since the fraudsters sometimes request codes for Apple Gift Cards, App Store & iTunes Gift Cards or Apple Store Gift Cards, we want to make sure our customers are aware of these scams.”

Apple said Gift Card scams tend to follow the same formula.

Usually, it involves a phone call to the victim to “create panic and urgency” to make a payment using an Apple Gift Card.

Once you have purchased the card, you will be prompted to pay by sharing the code on the back. But it is a fraudulent request designed to steal your money.

Apple said never to give the numbers on the back of a gift card to someone you don’t know.

Once you provide the numbers to the scammers, they will likely spend the money before you can contact Apple or the police.

“If you’re not buying an item from Apple, don’t pay with an Apple Gift Card,” Apple advised.

“There is no other instance where you are asked to make a payment with one of these gift cards.

“Don’t give the numbers on the back of the gift card to anyone you don’t know.

“Report suspected fraud immediately to your local law enforcement agency and the FTC.”