Tips to Protect Yourself From Holiday Gift Card Scams

Thieves stealing money off of gift cards are keeping lots of shoppers on edge this holiday season. Authorities say scammers copy the bar code or replace it with a fake one. Then when you pay for the card at the register, the full value of the card goes to the scammer. Across the U.S., gift card-scam victims are sharing stories to protect others this holiday season. Target tells Inside Edition they are doing all they can to prevent these scams and continue to educate their employees on how to spot the tampering of gift cards.

[j-h-]

Why don't they just keep the gift cards locked up in a display case at the customer service cointer? That way they can't scan them easily. When someone wants to buy one, a customer service rep can unlock said case and assist the consumer. Alternatively, customers can buy electronic gift cards.

[skyrimwarrior]

Time for stores to lock up all gift cards behind the counter or behind a locked case.
I know it’s a great inconvenience to customers and employees, but it has to be done for the protection from gift card scams.

[Paradise-NJPA]

This is not a scam. This is stealing, which is a crime and anyone who is found doing this should be arrested and charged immediately.

[AshTheNimbat]

Costco came prepared years ahead of this now that I'm thinking about it. In order to purchase a gift card you take the cardboard card to the register and you purchase it. Then you take your receipt to the merchandise pickup and you get the actual gift card LOL. Years ahead of it's time haha.

[gloomiehoodie]

Solution: Don't buy gift cards period!
I hate to receive a gift card for a place that I never go.
Put that $50 inside of an envelop and the recipient will certainly have a better use for that money.

[loveforeignaccents]

I despise the lowlifes that do this and ruin others' joy. It happened with a gift card I had given to my mom. Although I bought it at Walgreen's, it was a gift card for Macy's. Of course I saved my receipt, but Walgreen's couldn't do anything. Luckily Macy's was able to cancel out the gift card I had given to my mom and replaced it with a new one.

[kevinkiss]

Anyone caught doing this 5 years mandatory in Jail. They might change their mind on doing this.

[riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip]

Here's a tip: Don't buy targeted gift cards. Go to your bank and get a Visa gift card. You can spend it in any store and anywhere online and the best part is thieves aren't going into banks and robbing the bank of their gift cards.

[lilylee]

I agree with below comments. Lock up the gift cards at the stores.

[steveh]

No need for gift cards. Just give cash. It's a better present. The recipient can spent it anywhere he or she wants.

[gimcrack]

I already decided. No more purchasing any gift cards ever. Can't get scam now.

[asahel]

Isnt it weird and unbelievable, manufacturers of this gift cards or the companies that own them dont see the flaws? Its like they intended this to happen.

[nataliejones]

At the grocery store where I work did a good job keeping an eye out and making sure the customers weren’t scamming it.

[randywebb]

Walmart in New Albany Ms. Is the worst place to buy gift cards. They've been ripping people off for over a year now.

[Rattle.to.tattle]

“Doing everything they can to prevent these scams” Target wouldn’t even work with the police who caught the guy in the video showed

[numberone]

They need to start keeping them in a locked case at the customer service counter.

[chantalgiroux]

My opinion for retailers is to remove the gift card from where people can access to it

[mitchellarmstrong]

Former cashier here. When people would buy gift cards, I would give them an activation status receipt. If the card didn't work, the customer would bring it back.

[Joel-lut]

RE: Sticker. I have bought some gift cards at Walgreens that have a sticker on the back side that covers the bar code. The cashier needs to remove the sticker so that money can be added on to the gift card. It’s very difficult to remove the sticker without it falling apart.

[ChelSierra_Remly]

These should have been locked up from the get-go.