Photo: Samantha Holomay

A Trail resident was scammed out of $300 after receiving an online message from someone who was posing as a friend.

A Trail resident was scammed out of $300 after they received an online message from someone who was posing as someone they knew.

The "friend" was asking them to send money over email via an electronic gift card transfer.

“Call your friend first before committing to sending money to verify the request. This is a very common scam, and victims can lose thousands of dollars," said Trail RCMP Sgt. Mike Wicentowich.

The victim purchased a $300 gift card from an online store and sent it electronically via email to the friend. Later, the person posing as the friend requested the reported victim to send another $600 via gift card to the friend.

After realizing the person was not who they said they were, they reported the fraud to police. However, the money was not recoverable.

“Please do not send anyone money electronically through a gift card, and verify all incoming email addresses to make sure they are not fake or suspicious,” said Sgt. Wicentowich.