Eye on Scams: Scammers impersonate executives

You may be used to getting text messages and emails from your boss, which is why a recent texting scam is so effective.

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- You may be used to getting text messages and emails from your boss, which is why a recent texting scam is so effective. Scammers find out where you work and pose as the CEO or other executive. Be on guard and don't share money or information, your own or your company's.

"You receive a random message, sometimes an email or text message, from somebody claiming to be your boss or someone within your organization, asking you to perform, a lot of times, a simple task that in turn is going to give a scammer your money," says Chris Babin of the BBB of Acadiana.

The sender knows your name, where you work, and your boss's name. It seems so real! The scam even made it's way into KLFY's newsroom. It looked legit, but it wasn't.

"One of the local reports we had was somebody within an organization got a text from somebody claiming to be from their boss saying, 'I'm in a meeting. I'm tied up. Can you go purchase some gift cards and send me the information from the gift cards. I want to be able to give them out to somebody in the meeting,' and it was a scammer, and it was not his boss," says Babin.

If you reply that you received the text, you'll be asked to do a quick task. This could be purchasing gift cards for a client or wiring funds to another business. Once you send the money or gift cards, it will be in the hands of a con-artist.

Here's how you can protect yourself from imposter scams:

• Don't trust unsolicited messages from unfamiliar numbers. Don't respond to potential impersonators reaching out from a different number.
• Be wary of unusual requests. If your boss has never asked you to buy gift cards, even if the request comes from a number you've saved, think twice. Scammers can potentially clone phone numbers and might have hijacked your boss' number to target employees.
• Double check with your boss personally. If a request comes from a strange number, call or email your boss first, rather than replying to the message.
• And lastly, if you suspect a scam, don't reply. Replying lets scammers know they have an active phone number and could leave you vulnerable to future attacks.

If you have a scam you’d like me to investigate, feel free to send an email to smasters@klfy.com.