PALOS PARK, IL — Palos Park police are following up on a report of the “do me a favor scam” where fraudsters pose as your friend, pastor or boss and try to trick people into buying popular gift cards and then relaying the card’s PIN back to the imposter. The requests come via email, text or through social media.
On Tuesday, a Palos Park man told police he received an email from his boss asking him “to do me a favor.” The man was instructed to buy 10 Amazon gift cards in increments of $200 each. Before emailing back the gift card PINs to his “boss,” the man examined the email more closely and realized it looked suspicious. He was able to avoid losing $2,000 when he called his employer to verify the email’s authenticity.
The scam is increasing in popularity. The imposters will also prey on people’s kindness, requesting gift cards to help another family in the community, a birthday or work event, promising to pay your back later.
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Once you give the scammer all the gift information, they essentially have your money and it’s nearly impossible to recover.
Avoid the scam:
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If you think you’ve fallen victim to the scam, or spotted a scam, report it to Report Fraud FTC.
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