Wagga workers losing thousands by scammer pretending to be their boss

Riverina Police District Detective Inspector Adrian Telfer said they had received a number of reports in the last 24 hours from victims of the fraudster.

"We want to let the public know to be aware of emails from an individual pretending to be your manager or you boss," he said.

"That person then requests that the conversation be transferred to social media, while the victims are told to purchase a number of gift cards."

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Reports have so far been made from Wagga and Temora, with anywhere between seven to 20 gift cards being requested.

"Please make sure you know exactly who you are communicating with, and please consult your employer directly before purchasing anything similar to this," Detective Inspector Telfer said.

"Remember, the first contact is via email, and second is the invitation to move across to social media."

The scam is believed to be run by "a low volume of people offending", according to Detective Inspector Telfer, and does not appear to target any specific business type.

"The victims involved believed they were communicating with their manager, and they were scammed out of thousands of dollars before realising," he said.

"The person involved is convincing enough get the victims across to social media, and we are working on that platform to try and identify the individual involved."

If you have been scammed or have noticed similar suspicious requests, contact Wagga Police Station on 6922 2599, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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