How to Avoid These 8 Common Gift Card Scams

If you’ve received a strange phone call or email regarding gift cards–with a request to provide a card’s number or codes–beware, it’s a scam! Hopefully, you haven’t gone along with such demands. Like most con artists, gift card scammers do their best to present their victims with an urgent matter if not quickly resolved, may have severe consequences.

Sadly, countless people fall for these types of scams every day which result in lost money and wasted time in the process. Gift card fraudsters will phone, send emails, text you, or even contact you through social media. If there’s a way to find you, they’ll use any method possible. Scammers don’t want you to think rationally. They’ll use any means possible so you panic instead of thinking logically about their claims. To better understand how to avoid gift card scam tricks, let’s first take a look into the mind of the typical gift card scammer.

Con artists have no shame and strike quickly, catching the victim off guard and making them feel like the situation is dire. For example, a gift card scammer may pose as a representative from a utility company. They inform you service will be cut off if not paid immediately with a reloadable card. Then, they’ll require the card’s numbers or code. Because nobody wants to lose access to electricity, water, or gas, this method is often effective at evoking compliance.

You can also fall prey to a scammer if you fear you may get into legal trouble. This is their strongest tool. Your best defense? When faced with a questionable situation step back, take a deep breath, and think about it. Once you give yourself a minute to examine the circumstances, you can easily conclude that the other party is just trying to con you. Scams are always changing and evolving, but con artists often fall back on the same few methods to get what they want. Thus, to avoid falling prey to their schemes, check out these eight most common gift card scams and how to handle them:

1. You Owe Money to the IRS. Scammers may pose as IRS representatives, your state’s revenue service, a local courthouse, or some other government agency. Often, they threaten you with fines and legal penalties if you do not send card numbers and codes by a certain date. Because most people are law-abiding citizens, this kind of scam can be extremely effective. After all, who wants to risk being fined or arrested?

2. Tech Support Follow-up. A scammer may call claiming to be tech support from Apple, Microsoft, or some other company. After some introductions, they might ask for gift card numbers or personal information before they can help you. Unless you contacted the official tech support service first, this is very likely a scam. A legitimate tech support department will never need gift card codes to fix your device.

3. Online Gift Card Hacks. Most gift cards are accounted for in online databases making it easy for customers and issuers to keep track of each card’s funds and information. But, it’s also an open door for hackers to get ahold of card details. Some scammers program automated bots that hack and scan gift card websites for crucial information. Then, they’ll quickly use those cards to drain the balance. To avoid this scam, use your gift cards as quickly as possible by spending your balance before hackers do.

4. Gift Cards on Store Racks. Many gift cards are just sitting out in the open for scammers to not pass up such a grand opportunity. To access the balance of these cards, fraudsters record the codes, put the cards back on the rack, then run a program that tells them when someone purchases and activates the card. After the card is activated, the scam artist quickly uses the information from the card to make purchases to drain the balance. To avoid this scam, it’s wise not to buy cards off the rack. but order them online. Or, ask a cashier for a card from the back of the store. Usually, stores have plenty of extra cards in storage and any cashier or manager will be happy to oblige.

5. Online Auction Discounts. Plenty of sites host real and illegitimate cards at heavily discounted prices. It doesn’t take much thought to realize that this sounds too good to be true. After all, how could they sell a gift card for less than the value of its balance and still make a profit? Typically, scammers have already logged the information on the card so that they can use it once it is activated. By the time you’re ready to make a purchase, you may find that the card doesn’t work or is mostly depleted. Consequently, you should avoid such auctions and sketchy websites altogether. At the end of the day, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

6. Phony Prizes or Vacations. You may receive a call or email stating that you have received a grandiose prize or vacation, and you just need to send a relatively humble sum of money in the form of gift card codes to access your winnings. This is one of the more obvious tactics that debit card scammers use, but many people still fall for it. No legitimate company would want gift cards in exchange for a car, house, or vacation. Therefore, you should just ignore such calls or emails whenever you get them.

7. Bad Checks, Insufficient Funds. If you receive an unexpected check, then you should tread carefully. Random checks often come with a message stating that the sender accidentally transferred too much money and needs you to make up the difference with gift card codes. If a victim complies, they will usually find out that the check is fake upon trying to deposit it. It’s never a good idea to cash questionable checks, and you should avoid giving any money or card codes to any unfamiliar person or organization.

8. Gift Card Social Media Scam. With the advent of social media, it’s easier than ever for con artists to learn a ton about their victims with just a little research. They can discover relevant names, addresses, workplaces, relationships, and so much more. With this information, they may impersonate or reference your friends or family members and claim that they need a gift card code to get out of a bad legal or financial situation. To avoid being targeted by this method, limit the information you share online and only allow close friends and family members access to social media activity.

If you run into any of these 8 gift card scams, or any trick that requires you to send card numbers, codes, or personal identification to the other party, the best defense is to protect yourself by acting rational and to report the activity immediately to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Report it even if you didn’t comply with the scammer. Your report helps law enforcement stop future scams.