Stay safe › Scams
Gift card scams
A "boss", official or relative asks you to buy gift cards and send the codes. Once they have the code, the money is gone.
How it works
A WhatsApp message arrives with your boss’s or a senior official’s photo. “I’m in a meeting, can’t talk. I need you to buy some gift cards for a client urgently. I’ll pay you back.” You buy the cards online and send back the codes. A gift card code works like cash: whoever has it can spend it, and the money can’t be traced back easily.
Real cases
In 2022, Meghalaya Police warned that scammers using a government official’s photo on WhatsApp were asking people to buy Amazon Pay e-gift cards, saying the official was in an emergency meeting, and to send back the claim codes. Outlook Business has described people in Delhi getting the same kind of request, by WhatsApp or email, from someone pretending to be a CEO or a professor.
If it has already happened
Contact the gift card company straight away with your receipts. Once a code has been spent the money is usually lost, so the earlier you report it, the better.
If it has already happened
- Stop. Don't send any more codes.
- Contact the gift card company at once through its official app or website. If the code hasn't been used yet, they may be able to block it.
- Call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in, and keep screenshots of the chat and your purchase receipts.
Protect yourself
- Nobody genuine ever asks to be paid in gift card codes. Treat any such request as a scam.
- Check by calling the person on the number you already have, or asking them face to face.
- Offices: agree that no one ever buys gift cards because of a chat message.
Say it simply
If anyone, even a relative, asks for gift card codes, call them on their usual number first.
Gift card codes are like cash. Never read them out or send a photo of them to anyone.
Where to report
- Cybercrime helpline 1930Money has been taken or a payment was tricked out of you. Call at once: the sooner, the better the chance of freezing it.Call 1930
- National Cyber Crime Reporting PortalFile a complaint about any cyber fraud, harassment, sextortion or morphed images.cybercrime.gov.in
- The app or platformReport and block the account on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube or wherever it happened, so it can be taken down.Report in the app
- Chakshu, on Sanchar SaathiReport a suspected fraud call, SMS or WhatsApp message, even if you lost nothing.sancharsaathi.gov.in