Imposter scams are one of the most common types of scams. They're successful because scammers prey upon emotions like Love, Greed, and Fear. By taking advantage of the power dynamic between a "CEO" and a company employee, scammers are able to create trick businesses out of money through their employees.
Scams This Week 5/17/22
May 17, 2022
The CEO Scam: When a call or email comes in usually right at the end of the day or night shift. The scammer is posing as the company's CEO or a higher up in the company. They tell the employee that they need money for various reasons. It could be gifts for employees, bonuses, to pay taxes, or whatever creative way they can think of to obtain the money.
This can play out in a couple of different ways. Usually, the employee ends up taking money from the till or the safe and purchasing gift cards. Sometimes the employee uses their own funds to purchase gift cards under the belief that they will be paid back.
Along those same lines, the "CEO" may tell you IT is going to call because they are upgrading the system at night. When "IT" calls, the scammer is attempting to gain remote access to the computer system so they can steal whatever financial information the company stores on the computer system.
Contact: Boise Police Media Relations