Phishing Scam Targets Westlake Business, Costs Employees

WESTLAKE, OH — An elaborate phishing scheme nearly ensnared the staffers of a Westlake business this week. Police are warning residents and companies that similar scams have been pulled across the country.

On Tuesday, employees at a Center Ridge Road business called police to say they had been victimized by an email scam. A group of employees got an email, mimicking their boss' email address, asking them to purchase $1,000 of Google Play gift cards for him. He told them he was caught in meetings and unable to do this himself.

The "boss" told his workers to email the codes for the gift cards to a variety of separate email addresses. He promised to pay his employees back when he was out of his meeting.

The boss showed up to the office and quickly told his employees he had not sent the emails and had no idea who sent such a request. Fortunately, the gift cards were not sent to the scammers.

Unfortunately, the Google Play cards cannot be returned. The employees are now stuck with gift cards they do not need or want.

"This is a phishing scam that has occurred across the country over the past several years. Always double check any person or company that instructs you to buy gift cards and read or report the numbers on-line or over the phone. These are almost always scams of some sort," Westlake Police said.

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