Mumbai Be careful if you receive a strange message from your colleague or boss, asking you to buy Amazon gift cards for them, because it might just be a scam.
Recently, the staff of Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) women’s university, received a message from their vice-chancellor’s number, asking for a favour in the form of an Amazon gift card. The message read, “Heiio how are you where are you at the moment im UJWALA CHAKRADEO. There is Someting i need you to please Do For urgaently as iam currently attending a very crucail meeting with limited phone calls. Are you Familiar with the amazon pay gift card.”
Barring the glaring typos, the fraudsters even included her picture and University logo to make the message look more authentic. The Azad Maidan police said that Ujjawala Chakradev, who joined SNDT University as the VC 10 months ago, filed a complaint on June 16.
“She had gone to Panvel for some official work on June 16. Her personal assistant called her and informed her that she had received a message from her number, claiming that she (Chakradev) was in the middle of an important meeting and requested the personal assistant to buy an Amazon Gift card for her,” said a police officer.
The fraudsters sent similar messages to many people known to the complainant. After being alerted by her PA, Chakradev posted a message in her University’s WhatsApp group informing all members about the hack. However, it is not clear whether anyone lost any money.
Earlier this month, the principal chief commissioner of Income Tax was also targeted in a similar manner. Last month, the principal commissioner of income tax (I-T), Amitabh Shukla, also became a target of cyber fraudsters, who hacked into his WhatsApp account and demanded money from several of his friends. Two of his friends even transferred ₹50,000 each to the fraudster.