Fake email scam! Scammer mimics IIT grad’s email ID, tries to trick colleague into buying Rs 10k Apple gift card

An IIT graduate recently exposed a new scam involving digital impersonation, where a fraudster posed as him in an attempt to con his colleague out of thousands of rupees. Sharing details on LinkedIn, Aaditya Aanand warned others to stay vigilant after a scammer impersonated him and sent a fake email to his teammate, Anupam.

Aanand, who works in the tech industry, said the email to Anupam read, "Why haven't you responded to my last email?"—a line designed to create urgency. While the sender’s name appeared to be Aaditya’s, the email address was different. Suspicious, Anupam reached out to him via WhatsApp, and they quickly realized it was a scam.

Instead of brushing it off, they decided to respond to the scammer to understand the con. “The person posing as me claimed that I was planning to surprise our team with Apple Gift Cards worth ₹10,000 each as a reward. He asked Anupam to quickly buy 5-6 gift cards using his personal email and share the code with them, promising that he would be reimbursed,” Aanand wrote.

What struck him most was the scammer’s tone. “The scammer created a sense of urgency while sounding professional,” he noted. When Anupam feigned trouble with payment, the fraudster even recommended using platforms like Amazon, Paytm, or PhonePe, claiming to be facing similar issues.

Aanand shared screenshots of the email exchange to highlight how sophisticated these scams are becoming. He urged others not to fall for such tricks and to stay alert. “Please don't fall for these things. Share with people, make them more aware. Scammers are everywhere. Their target is everyone, especially in a digital world where data privacy is a myth and people's emails and mobile numbers are all public,” he warned in his post.

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Victims or targets of cybercrime can report incidents at the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal at https://cybercrime.gov.in. The government-run portal allows individuals to file complaints using a verified mobile number and email ID.