Did you confirm it was a scam? Primarily wondering if it's possible that the company itself contracted someone to do phishing test for new employees. I know there are plenty that do email version of this.

Ceo scam is very common. Anytime someone claims to be a ceo verify! CEO is a popular target because they have power and can request weird things of employees who don't know them in normal business.

I would hope they don’t do that before I start using my personal number.

If someone did fall for it, the potential that your employees would spend real money that they wouldn’t get reimbursed for would definitely piss a lot of people off.