You receive an email from a friend asking for a quick favor. She’s having trouble with a credit card or store account and, annoyingly, can’t buy a gift card she needs for a birthday present. Will you buy the card and call her with the numbers on the back? She’ll pay you back. But this favor’s really a fraud, as it’s almost always an impostor sending the request, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns. If you do as told, you’ll never see the money again because gift cards don’t have the protections that debit and credit cards have.
 
How to stay safe: Call or text your friend to confirm the person really needs the favor. Target, Google Play, Apple, eBay and Walmart were the top cards used by scammers in 2021. “Always double check before sending someone money,” the BBB advises.
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