Chesterton Tribune

 

 

CPD: Man defrauded of $4,400; phished by email purportedly sent by his boss

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A Chesterton resident was defrauded of $4,400 after he fell victim to a phishing scam, in the form of an apparent e-mail from his boss, Chesterton Police said.

According to police, on Thursday the victim’s wife reported that, on July 18, he received an e-mail purportedly from his supervisor, sent to his company e-mail account, in which his “boss” asked him to purchase 40 $100 Apple iTunes cards, to be used for gifts and incentives “for students or new hires.”

The victim’s wife advised police that, while normally her husband would have been more vigilant--and would likely have been suspicious because his company has training facilities not in Indiana but in Seattle and Los Angeles--he’s been preoccupied by his mother’s failing health.

So, acting on her husband’s instructions, she purchased the cards, at $100 each, at the Walgreen’s, Jewel/Osco, and CVS in Chesterton and made additional purchases at Meijer in Michigan City. “In total, 44 gift cards were purchased and activated using directions from the e-mail,” police said.

Some days later, during a conversation with his boss, the victim had occasion to mention the iTunes card purchases, and his supervisor “had no idea what he was talking about and denied authoring the e-mail,” police said.

The company has launched its own internal investigation and American Express--the charge card used in the purchases--has frozen the transactions until it could complete an investigation of its own. But, police said, “There was no guarantee AMEX would cover the purchase.”

 

Posted 8/10/2018

 
 
 
 

 

 

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