Picture this, you are on your way home from the Market Center, your phone dings with an incoming text. You use CarPlay to listen to it and it says it’s your OP/TL or someone else on your leadership team and they need a FAVOR!!
They need you to send gift cards to fund the next office event or for a gift for another member on the leadership team, but are stuck in a meeting or on a conference call.
WAIT...before you rush to open your wallet, ask yourself: “is that really someone at my Market Center, or could it be a scammer out to snatch my hard-earned cash?”
This Scam has been around for ages, and it’s called “The Boss Scam”. It targets more than just the real estate world.
Here’s how the plot unfolds. The scammer slides into your texts posing as someone in your Market Center Leadership, either using a crafty fake email address, spoofing their name on a phone number or hacking into the real deal.
They spin a tale about needing your assistance — be it for an epic office surprise bash, a corporate extravaganza, or just a simple errand. Whatever the excuse, they’ll sweet-talk you into shelling out for gift cards, promising to reimburse you down the line. But once those precious gift card digits are in their hands, your money takes a swift exit. “Hey George, can you do me a quick favor? I’m on a conference call”.
So, if you find an unexpected text from your leadership asking for this kind of favor:
- Avoid the Gift Card Trap: Gift cards are for birthdays, not bills. If anyone nudges you to pay with a gift card, smell the scam a mile away. Your Market Center leadership does not need agents to make purchases for them.
- Verify with Your Market Center: Ring up your Team Leader using a legit number, not the one they are texting you from. Confirm the request before you even think about swiping that card.
- Add Leadership To Your Phone: If you add your Leadership cell phone and email address to your phone, and their name doesn’t pop up as the person it is coming from, it’s a good bet it’s a scam.
- Hit the Pause Button: Spill the beans to a trusted associate or buddy. Share the situation on any company internal social media pages and get their take on it.
Did you or a friend fall victim to the scam? Discover the next steps. Act swiftly, and you might (emphasis on might) claw back your moolah. It’s a shot worth taking.
And if you’ve got the eagle eyes to spot this scam, be a hero — report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov
Because in the battle against scammers, we’re all on the same team!
Stay vigilant,
George