Security Analyst Comment

This is a variation of the gift card scam. The scammer impersonates someone in authority (e.g. a department chair, a dean, or an administrator). The scammer asks if the target is available, often under the pretext that they are busy, in a meeting, or cannot speak on the phone. After the exchange starts the scammer asks the target to buy gift cards on their behalf, with the promise that the target will be reimbursed. The scammers have an underground market where they resell the gift card codes.