Gift cards are a very practical way to please a loved one. This method of payment, as ingenious as it is practical, is however not without danger and gift card scams are increasing.
Who has never given a gift card to a close friend for fear of making a mistake by giving something else? Increasingly widespread among our favorite brands, gift cards have the advantage of being a neutral present that can appeal to as many people as possible. Buying a gift card is as useful as it is easy: you choose an amount to spend, go to the cash register and that’s it!
As practical as they are, gift cards have also become a prime target for hackers and people wanting to steal your banking information. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission in the United States) notably revealed this year that gift cards were particularly popular for scams. By 2023, it would be the main means of payment for counterfeiters and fraudsters, setting a record of nearly $150 million taken from consumers.
How do fraudsters go about setting up a gift card scam? The answer is simple: these people will first find the said cards on sale in a store. Once the employees of the latter are absent, the fraudsters will seize the gift cards in order to attach their own bar code on top. Once you purchase the card in question, the amount entered will be directly charged and sent to the fraudsters’ bank account. You (and the person you’re giving the gift card to) simply won’t be able to enjoy the money you paid at the checkout.
It is possible to protect yourself against these possible scams with gift cards. First of all, it is strongly recommended to inspect the card displays before purchasing one. By carefully looking at the displays and the card you wish to offer, you will be able to see if a bar code has been stuck on top of the original one and detect a potential scam. It is also possible to use a 100% dematerialized gift card by purchasing it directly on the internet. In this way, it is not possible to physically alter it by sticking a false barcode on it!
