Beware of gift card scam

We encounter a wide range of phishing messages in email, internet and social media and get scam calls also. Therefore, it is appropriate to learn how to distinguish scam messages from proper mail.

For example, there is now a gift card scam message that appears to be coming in the name of a supervisor or colleague, but the name and email address do not match.

An example of gift card scam:

Viestissä pyydetään: "Let me know if you have some time now."

If this message is answered, in the next step, the scammer will ask to purchase gift cards for digital services on behalf of the person the scammer pretends to be.

General information about scam messages

The goal of scammers is to get us to give:

  • passwords,
  • banking credentials,
  • IDs or
  • money.

Factors that make us fall for scams:

  • urgency,
  • desire to please,
  • greed,
  • curiosity,
  • complacency,
  • fear.

Probability that phishing message succeeds is 1 out of 10! So be careful and pay attention to these:

  • spelling and grammar errors,
  • sender address,
  • things that sound too good to be true.

Beware of spam content:

  • attachments,
  • links,
  • login pages.

If you notice anything suspicious, report it to: tietosuoja@oulu.fi or ict@oulu.fi.

If you fell for a scam, do these: https://ict.oulu.fi/19746/?lang=en#act.

More information: How to protect yourself against online scams | NCSC-FI (kyberturvallisuuskeskus.fi).

Last updated: 28.9.2023