Organised crime gang members are offering prison officers up to £3,000 to smuggle iPhones into jail.
The sum is the equivalent of almost two months' wages and 30 times the price of some second-hand devices.
An officer's basic pay within the Scottish Prison Service is around £22,000 per year.
Gangsters hope that the cost of living crisis will make prison staff more vulnerable to taking risks.
An officer in high-security Shotts Prison told friends he turned the offer to take in a handset.
It came after dozens of iPhones were discovered during a massive security sweep.
One source said: "There's a lot of prisoners still involved in organised crime with access to this kind of money.
"It's worth spending £3,000 if they can get a phone that allows them to speak to their cronies unmonitored.
"One staff member turned the offer down. They didn't say who it came from but it shows how desperate some inmates are to stay in touch with their criminal pals.
"There is a fear that some more vulnerable members of staff will find it difficult to turn down this kind of money.
"The price of day-to-day living is going up all the time just now and there will be some staff members prepared to take this risk."
Wealthy kingpins target security staff with cash bribes to help maintain control of their operations.
Andrew Gallacher, who died in West Lothian's Addiewell Prison last year, faced police charges after an iPhone was found in his cell.
The key member of the Lyons crime gang had been due to appear at Hamilton Sheriff Court after staff discovered the handset during a search.
Nearly 2000 mobile phones were confiscated from prisoners in Scotland due to rule breaches during the Covid pandemic.
Around 7600 purportedly tamper-proof phones were given to inmates to replace visiting.
However prisoners were able to change the settings to make calls to unauthorised numbers.
Prison staff have raised concerns they are being used to organise drug deals.
Scottish Prison Service figures show that 1899 mobile phones were seized in Scotland's prisons since May 2020.
Prison Officers Association Scotland assistant general secretary Phil Fairlie said: "Attempts to pressurise or to seek to provide enticements to prison staff is not a new thing.
"It is a potential pressure staff are made aware of at the very earliest opportunity in their training when joining the service.
"There is no doubt with the increase in numbers of those in our prisons with links to serious organised crime gangs, there is also a likely increase in attempts to have staff succumb to such an approach.
"The known examples of such approaches being successful are thankfully incredibly low."
A Scottish Prison Service insider said: "Prison officers agreeing to smuggle stuff in for inmates isn't unheard of.
"It doesn't happen very often but it has happened before and it will no doubt happen again."
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