Gift Card Scams


Gift card scams have become a popular way for scammers to attempt to obtain money from their victims.  In many cases, the email impersonates a UCF employee or supervisor.

The sender identity and message content may vary; however, the scam generally follows a similar pattern.  The initial email is intentionally vague and very brief.  Once the UCF employee responds, the scammer then provides more details in subsequent email messages as illustrated below.

Stage 1:  "Are you available?"

Stage 2:  "I'm in a meeting right now and that's why I'm contacting you through here. I should have called you but phone is not allowed to be used during the meeting..." (or other similar excuse)

Stage 3:  "I need you to help me get iTunes (or other) Gift cards from the store, I will reimburse you back when I get back to the office..."

When receiving an unexpected email, pay close attention to the sender's email address.  If the sender claims to be a UCF employee but the email address is from a third party source such as Gmail, Yahoo, or anything other than ucf.edu, it's most likely a scam.  For more information about phishing emails and how to spot and report them, visit our Phishing Awareness page at https://infosec.ucf.edu/phishing.

If you receive an email matching this pattern, or any email asking you to purchase gift cards or transfer funds on behalf of another UCF employee or office, report it using the Phish Alert button.  You can also reach out in person to the individual who appears to be the email sender to verify the request. We recommend not replying by email or telephone to the sender.  Remember to treat gift cards as cash, and never send pictures of cards or their codes via email.