{"id":340668,"date":"2025-12-11T01:44:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T01:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/340668\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T01:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T01:44:09","slug":"it-looked-like-a-scam-email-asking-to-venmo-100-then-he-realized-it-was-a-mandatory-contribution-to-a-lavish-gift-for-the-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/340668\/","title":{"rendered":"It Looked Like A Scam Email Asking To Venmo $100. Then He Realized It Was A Mandatory Contribution To A Lavish Gift For The Boss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A manager at a successful small business was stunned to receive what looked like a phishing email<\/a>: a request to Venmo $100 to the company president. The supposed reason? A group gift for the owner. But it wasn\u2019t a scam. It was real. And, apparently, not optional.<\/p>\n

The Reddit post, shared under r\/smallbusiness<\/a>, came from an employee who had only been at the 80-person company for less than a year. The business brings in around $50 million in revenue and has no debt. Despite being happy in the role overall, the manager was taken aback by the unexpected demand.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEach person’s contribution is $100. Please Venmo me when you have a chance,\u201d the email read. It was sent to 17 managers, totaling a $1,700 contribution to cover a luxury fish subscription for the company owner. The message came from the president, who also happens to be the owner\u2019s nephew and is reportedly being groomed to take over the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first instinct was to report the email as phishing because I thought there\u2019s no way this guy is asking us all to Venmo him $100,\u201d the original poster wrote. But upon closer inspection, it was legit: \u201cHead of HR and IT were both on the To line.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tone of the email didn\u2019t make the contribution sound optional, and the employee questioned the whole premise. \u201cCan\u2019t we just get the guy a tie? Isn\u2019t our gift to him the labor we put in to make him his several million dollar salary?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Commenters flooded in, and the consensus was apparent. Most business owners said they\u2019d be horrified if their staff gave them an expensive gift<\/a>. \u201cThis is batsh*t unhinged behavior,\u201d one owner wrote. \u201cGifts flow down, not up,\u201d another said. Several owners said they prefer to give holiday bonuses and thoughtful gifts to their employees, not the other way around.<\/p>\n

One commenter summed it up: \u201cI would be beyond pissed at whoever arranged this and I would pay everyone back.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was also concern about power dynamics. \u201cThe fact that it\u2019s a family member in a superior position to all of those he is collecting $100 from seems strange,\u201d another wrote. Some even speculated the nephew was setting a precedent for his own leadership style, or worse, trying to pocket the money.<\/p>\n

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While some advised simply paying to avoid future awkwardness, others suggested quietly checking in with coworkers to gauge whether everyone else was truly on board. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to skip it and be the only guy not participating without understanding the consequences,\u201d one person said.<\/p>\n

Others said if it\u2019s a good-paying job, just treat it like a parking ticket and pay the fine.<\/p>\n

The original poster later added that they like the owner and believe he\u2019s generous with bonuses and parties. Still, they felt the ask was inappropriate: \u201cBecause he holds a position of power over me, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s appropriate for me to be required to give him a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s a cultural norm at the company or not, the internet was firm in its stance: contributing $100 to a lavish gift for the boss, especially at the direction of his nephew, crosses a line.<\/p>\n

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Image: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

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This article It Looked Like A Scam Email Asking To Venmo $100. Then He Realized It Was A Mandatory Contribution To A Lavish Gift For The Boss<\/a> originally appeared on Benzinga.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A manager at a successful small business was stunned to receive what looked like a phishing email: a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[64,63,203,189270,105,22048],"class_list":{"0":"post-340668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-phishing-email","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-venmo"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}