Greg's Corner

NY warns the boss scam is back

By Greg Collier

With the Delta-variant of COVID-19 causing so many new outbreaks, a lot of employees are going back to working from home. Many other employees never even returned to the office and retained their work at home positions. However, due to the most recent outbreaks, a scam targeting work at home employees has been on the rise again, at least according to the state of New York, and if it’s happening in New York, you can bet it’s only a matter of time before it starts hitting other parts of the country.

While it’s not a new scam, the Empire State is warning work at home employees to be wary of any emails or texts you receive from your boss asking you to buy gift cards. The messages will appear like they’ve come from a high-ranking official from within your company, but the address and phone numbers on these messages can be spoofed. You’ll be asked to buy a bunch of gift cards for a ‘business emergency’ and then you’ll be instructed to give the numbers to the scammer posing as your boss.

There’s another version of this scam that’s even more costly. In some cases, employees that work in accounting departments, human resources, or accounts payable have been asked to cut checks to scammers or switch bank accounts to a scammer’s account.

When it comes to dealing with corporate funds or corporate purchases that seem out of the ordinary, take the time to verify with either your direct supervisor or the person who’s supposedly sending the messages with a phone call. While it may seem like an inconvenience to some, it’s better than losing a bunch of your company’s money. Also, keep in mind that no legitimate business will make payments to anyone with gift cards. As we are fond of saying, gift cards are the currency of the scammers.