Gift Card and Recharge Code Payment Scam by email

How it looks by email, the red flags and what to do.

Email is slower than SMS, so these scams usually pretend to be a bill, a refund, an account lock or a job offer and ask you to log in or open a file. Gift Card and Recharge Code Payment Scam is one of the ways this shows up: A caller or chat contact asks you to buy gift vouchers and read out the codes, claiming it fixes a problem. The codes are spent within minutes.

What gift card and recharge code payment scam looks like by email

• A sender address that is almost, but not exactly, the real domain.
• A button that says "Verify account" or "View invoice".
• An attachment such as a PDF, ZIP or HTML file you did not expect.

The set-up depends on the story. In one version a message arrives from a number using your manager's photo, saying he is in a meeting and needs vouchers for a client. In another a caller poses as a tax or telecom officer and says a penalty can be paid only by vouchers. In a third a seller on a marketplace asks to be paid in recharge codes instead of money.

Red flags to check on the email

• A government officer or a company says a penalty or fee must be paid with gift vouchers.
• A message from a 'boss' or friend on a new number asks for vouchers urgently.
• You are told not to call or tell anyone.
• Codes must be sent as photos or text rather than redeemed by you.
• Hover over the link: the address does not match the company website.
• The email asks you to log in through the link rather than through the official app.

What to do

1. Stop buying vouchers and call the person on a number you already know.
2. Remember that no tax office, bank or telecom company takes payment in gift vouchers.
3. Do not share any voucher code, even partly.
4. Report it as phishing in your email app and delete it.
5. If you typed a password on the page, change it at once and turn on two-step verification.
6. Do not open the attachment and do not press the button.

Use Report phishing in your email app. If money or accounts are affected, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Contact the voucher company through its official app or website and report the codes quickly, as unused value might be frozen.
2. Call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in with the codes and the chat.
3. Tell your bank if you paid for the vouchers by card or UPI.
4. Do not buy more vouchers to 'recover' the earlier ones.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Paste the chat into Scam check in Safeavio Sentinel to see the reasons it looks risky, such as secrecy and an unusual payment form. Money Shield lets you keep trusted contacts and a family code word, so a message that claims to be a relative or a boss can be tested with a question only the real person knows. Safeavio cannot cancel a voucher or recover money spent.

Full guide: Gift Card and Recharge Code Payment Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: phone call, WhatsApp, SMS.

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