The Federal Travel Commission (FTC) warned in a statement that several people were involved in “gift card” scams.
Some criminals ask people to buy “gift cards” so they can give them their numbers and thus empty them.
The FTC also warned that no real company or government agency will ever ask customers to purchase a gift card to pay for it.
For this reason, they recommend always keeping a copy of your gift card and proof of purchase.
This way, they can report gift card scams to the appropriate company and request a refund.
Typically, this type of scam begins with a call, text, email, or social media message.
Scammers are likely to try any means possible to get people to buy gift cards. They will also do everything possible to obtain the card number and PIN codes.
What are the most common tactics? deceive?
At the first contact with the scammers they will say that it is an urgent payment that the person must pay or something terrible will happen.
It is then determined which gift card should be purchased and where. For example, they may ask victims to deposit money on eBay, Google Play, Target, or Apple gift cards.
They probably ship to a specific store, usually Walmart, Target, CVS or Walgreens.
Additionally, criminals ask for the gift card number and PIN located on the back of the card. This way they can access the deposited funds.
However, if the fraud has already occurred, it’s best to let the gift card company know quickly. What matters is not when the scam took place, but rather that the victims report it and demand their money back.