In today's digital age, scams have become increasingly sophisticated.

Even the most vigilant people could fall prey to deceptive tactics.

This was the unfortunate reality for an American expat living in Sydney, who learned a hard lesson about the perils of online communication.

Her story is a cautionary tale, especially for those who are not familiar with modern-day scams.

Texas native Melanie Albert has been enjoying her life in Sydney since 2019.

She was six weeks into her new job as an assistant manager when she received what seemed to be a routine email from her boss.

The email that came through her work account requested her contact number on WhatsApp.

With the sender's details matching her employer's information, Melanie provided her information.

Melanie Albert received a message from a scammer disguised as work correspondence from her boss. Image Credit: Shutterstock/
lesyeuxde.er

After receiving Melanie’s WhatsApp information, the person immediately asked her to purchase a $500 Apple gift card from Woolworths with the promise of reimbursement.

Trusting the source, she complied and sent proof of purchase.

After her initial purchase, she was asked to buy more cards, totalling $3,000.

It wasn't until the scammer pushed for an additional $2,000 in gift cards that Melanie sensed something was amiss.

She called the WhatsApp number, which immediately sent her a voicemail.

'I am in meetings at the moment. Kindly text; I can't take calls,' the voicemail said.

'I will reimburse you back on all expenses as soon as I am done here.'

With only $91 left in her account, she told the number that she was almost out of money.

The scammer only replied with an emoji.

She contacted her actual boss, only to discover she had been scammed.

The initial email had a subtle, unnoticeable typo, a typical red flag in scam emails.

​

'I felt like a huge i****. You always expect it to be an older person falling for a scam. It was shocking because I didn't pick up on it,' Melanie shared.

'What happened made me feel down about myself. Scammers are getting smarter.'

​

Melanie reported the incident to the police and her bank, but the chances of recovering her money were slim.

According to the bank's investigation, since she made the purchases herself, they could not refund her money.

Scams similar to these have been prevalent in Australia.

Data from the National Anti-Scam Centre revealed that Australians lodged over 601,000 scam reports in 2023.

These reports marked an 18.5 per cent increase from the previous year.

Investment scams topped the list with $1.3 billion in losses, followed by remote access scams and romance scams.

To recover from the scam, Melanie started a GoFundMe page and received an advance payment from her employer.

Her experience is a reminder that scams can happen to anyone—regardless of age or background.

Key Takeaways

• Melanie Albert, an American expat living in Sydney, was scammed out of $3,000 in a gift card fraud after receiving a deceptive email from a scammer posing as her manager.
• Following instructions from the scammer, Ms Albert purchased several Apple gift cards at her local Woolworths and was promised to be reimbursed afterwards.
• After realising she had been scammed, Ms Albert was left financially drained of her savings.
• Despite reporting the incident to the police and her bank, her dispute claim with the bank was unsuccessful, and she may not recover her losses.

What are your common telltale signs for scams? How do you keep yourselves protected from advanced scam tactics? Share your advice with us in the comments section below.

You can also read more about scams and prevention in the SDC Forum's Scam Watch.

 

[Ceecee53]

I feel sorry for Melanie, but there are signs everywhere as you enter a Woolworths store saying don't buy gift cards for payment to anyone. Damned scammers are such miserable individuals!!

 

[kenrconn]

There we go again reporting scams that people have been victim to. While reading this a few minutes ago I noticed that yet another scam attempt is on the go right in front of us SDC readers. (See pic). Is there nothing that SDC can do to prevent these scams involving innocent celebrities from appearing on your pages. I hope that all if not many of your readers see this as it is.

 

[Staffordshire Whippet]

We've all heard that things are bigger in Texas; it appears that applies to idiots as well.

 

[Veggiepatch]

We've all heard that things are bigger in Texas; it appears that applies to idiots as well.

According to WorldData.info, Australia ranks 16th in the world for average IQ, while the USA ranks 35th but spends 12% more per student for education.

Melanie Albert just proves that the US education system, like the health care system, is way worst than ours.

 

[Beezzzy]

So what is the telltale red mark to look out for on scam emails you mentioned??

 

[kenrconn]

Not a “red mark” but a red flag (a warning). In this case many scammers cannot spell or even copy data correctly so the incidence to poor spelling or poor grammar is usually a warning that the email did not come from a reliable source.

 

[Scaveola]

Why would you do this anyway? Stupid.

 

[Ann Melling]

earlier this year I (76 yo) had the same scam sent from me to numerous people. 1 elderly lady (90 yo) rang me after buying 3 gift cards totally $1,000 - she had paid by credit card so I told her to ring her credit card provider to stop the payment (was to late) reported to the Police. The next day my brother-in-law rang from interstate to check if I had sent the email (he was already to go and buy $1,000 gift cards). Shortly after that I received a similar email from someone I knew BUT I was weary for a start because of the message and then looked at the senders address & it isn't correct. Sometimes the email address might have the sender's name in it but rest is incorrect. So if you are not sure check the email address, if still not sure ring them if they give some excuse why they can't come to the phone just wait until you can speak to them

 

[Ann Melling]

Why would you do this anyway? Stupid.

Sometimes they give a really good story that sounds true

 

[Scaveola]

I still don’t understand why anyone would feel obliged to buy gift cards even if they thought the request was from someone they knew. Wouldn’t you phone them to check first?

 

[Scaveola]

Sometimes they give a really good story that sounds true

I suppose it could sound genuine.

 

[mylittletibbies]

According to WorldData.info, Australia ranks 16th in the world for average IQ, while the USA ranks 35th but spends 12% more per student for education.

Melanie Albert just proves that the US education system, like the health care system, is way worst than ours.

Quite obvious by the number of idiots who follow Trump.

 

[Iggydi]

I nearly got scammed the other day. I had recently had breakfast with a friend and when a message came through on my email saying she dropped her phone and the screen was broken could I go buy some ITune cards for a friends birthday. Seeing I knew this person and have known her for 10 years I said yes. There was a niggling feeling that I shouldn't do it. So I texted her and she said her email account has been hacked. I am glad I trusted my gut. Because when I read through the texts later it was apparent what was happening. I felt like a real idiot but a relieved one

 

[Ann Melling]

I still don’t understand why anyone would feel obliged to buy gift cards even if they thought the request was from someone they knew. Wouldn’t you phone them to check first?

When people thought they were receiving an email from me the person impersonating me' said' that I was in hospital and had lost my voice so therefore couldn't phone. The lady that got caught and lost $1,000 had actually seen me at Church that morning but still believed it was from me! It was only when she said she couldn't get into town for a couple of days to buy another gift card that she got suspicious because of the way they spoke and pushed her to get another card sooner (it didn't seem like me)

 

[mylittletibbies]

I nearly got scammed the other day. I had recently had breakfast with a friend and when a message came through on my email saying she dropped her phone and the screen was broken could I go buy some ITune cards for a friends birthday. Seeing I knew this person and have known her for 10 years I said yes. There was a niggling feeling that I shouldn't do it. So I texted her and she said her email account has been hacked. I am glad I trusted my gut. Because when I read through the texts later it was apparent what was happening. I felt like a real idiot but a relieved one

You wouldn't believe but I just had the same thing

Supposedly was my friend who apparently had laryngitis, so couldn't ring,but wanted me to email her because she needed a favour.
As she didn't use my name in greeting and the way the conversation was written I thought it was a bit suss.
Turned out her phone had been hacked.
Third attempted scam this week.

 

[Rob44]

According to WorldData.info, Australia ranks 16th in the world for average IQ, while the USA ranks 35th but spends 12% more per student for education.

Melanie Albert just proves that the US education system, like the health care system, is way worst than ours.

What is number 1, PR China or Japan?

 

[Rob44]

Quite obvious by the number of idiots who follow Trump.

We have had the LNP for most of the last 30 years............and that is, unlike the UK, with 100% of the electorate having to vote.

 

[Veggiepatch]

What is number 1, PR China or Japan?

1. Hong Kong
2. Japan
3. Singapore

Data is based on statistics taken from 2000 to 2019.

Source: https://www.worlddata.info/iq-by-country.php