‘Tis The Season: 4 Ways To Avoid Gift Card Swindles

(Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Boston Globe via Getty Images

Billions of dollars of gift cards will be wrapped as presents this year. But when you get a request from a stranger to send one, it’s probably a scam.

Although this time of the year is prime time for gift card swindles, they are going on all year/24/7. It’s a common vehicle to steal money.

This holiday season, there’s a new twist to this growing type of fraud: Tampering with gift card bar codes.

Watch for stickers covering gift card barcodes, warns the Better Business Bureau. “Before buying a gift card, run your finger over the back to check whether a sticker has been applied on top of the barcode.”

“Reports say that scammers can tamper with in-store gift cards by adding stickers printed with barcodes over top of the card’s real barcode. These fraudulent bar codes are connected to a different gift card account that the scammer controls. That means when you scan a phony barcode at the check-out and pay, you’ll be adding cash to a scammer’s account rather than onto your newly purchased gift card.”

Also ignore any gift card offers on social media or website links. According to BBB.org/ScamTracker reports, “some websites that claim to check your gift card balance are really a way to steal money off your card. These sites ask for your card’s ID number and PIN or security code. Then, scammers use the information to drain the money from your card.”

In general, the red flags for gift cards are waving in plain sight. Here’s what the Federal Trade Commission recommends:

Scammers will say it’s urgent. They will say to pay them right away or something terrible will happen. They don’t want you to have time to think about what they’re saying or talk to someone you trust. Slow down. Don’t pay. It’s a scam.
Scammers will tell you which gift card to buy (and where). They might say to put money on an eBay, Google Play, Target
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, or Apple
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gift card. They might send you to a specific store — often Walmart
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, Target, CVS, or Walgreens. Sometimes they’ll tell you to buy cards at several stores, so cashiers won’t get suspicious. The scammer also might stay on the phone with you while you go to the store and load money onto the card. If this happens to you, hang up. It’s a scam.
Scammers will ask you for the gift card number and PIN. The card number and PIN on the back of the card let the scammer get the money you loaded onto the card — even if you still have the card itself. Slow down. Don’t give them those numbers or send them a photo of the card.
Scammers say they’re from the government or from “tech support “or offering a prize. They say they’re from the IRS, the Social Security Administration, or even the FTC. They say you have to pay taxes or a fine. But government agencies won’t contact you to demand immediate payment, and they never demand payment by gift card.

Another related gift card scam is a fake email or text from the IRS requesting that a tax payment be paid with a gift card. The agency never asks for payment in that form and they never call or email you out of the blue.

Here’s a helpful video from the IRS on how to avoid gift-card scams.