Gift card scams.

[arakboss]

Victim warns 'card draining' scam affecting major retailers left her gift card useless: It 'shocked' me

Suzanne Gdovic warned "Fox & Friends First" viewers about the shady methods fraudsters are using to scam money from store gift cards after she lost $200.

www.foxnews.com

Read More

 

[Provincial]

If the vendor (in this case, Target) was made liable for selling a hacked gift card, the problem would be addressed quickly. As it is, stonewalling the victim is in the interest of the vendor, and the victim is fighting an uphill battle.

If the vendor was responsible for hacked cards, they would have the incentive to scan each card at point of sale. This would reveal that the hacked card was already linked to another account, or had been modified. The card could not be entered into the system, and another card would have to be supplied and vetted. Retailers will oppose this, since it would add to their costs, but the protection of the consumer would be enhanced.

 

[Bacchus]

I don't think this is detectable at the register. The vendor does scan the cards, in my experience, to activate it.

When I read about this kind of scam, the scammers were getting the card numbers, as in the story, and then as soon as the card would be activated the scammers would spend the money on the card. With some or all cards you don't need any kind of password to log into the card seller's online site to get the status, you only need the card number. The scammers then monitor the card's status to determine when it was activated.

The posted story does mention a "linked account" which isn't part of the scams I've read about, and would seem to be a means of identification of the card thief.

Since the scammers pull this off by stealing cards off the rack, copying the card number, and then putting the cards back on the rack, I think the solution might be for the stores that sell these cards to put them in a locked cabinet of some sort, similar to expensive liquor or cigarettes.

 

[Mikej]

Since the scammers pull this off by stealing cards off the rack, copying the card number, and then putting the cards back on the rack, I think the solution might be for the stores that sell these cards to put them in a locked cabinet of some sort, similar to expensive liquor or cigarettes.

Yeah, like under ware at Walmart.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Yeah, like under ware at Walmart.

Only men's underwear apparently women's/girls underwear and lingerie are still out in the open.

As for the card scam... the general thing seems to be that the thieves are either copying, or cutting the card # on the top and leaving the barcode/mag stripe alone.. which is where the retailer loads the money onto. The #/activation code on the top is what activates and if you know the #s, you can drain the card online without using the mag stripe.

Edit. It depends on some of the cards. Some like the Vanilla ones, are more difficult to copy/scam without taking the whole card out, others are easier.

 

[Mikej]

As for the card scam... the general thing seems to be that the thieves are either copying, or cutting the card # on the top and leaving the barcode/mag stripe alone.. which is where the retailer loads the money onto. The #/activation code on the top is what activates and if you know the #s, you can drain the card online without using the mag stripe.

Wifey says there's a new scam out, but she's not sure how this one works. I'm guessing she doesn't see much of it at her store. Her being third man, I'd think if people came in complaining of scam that she would hear about it

 

[Ruger Rich]

Yeah, like under ware at Walmart.

Made me laugh

 

[TTSX]

That's why cash is king. So you can buy fentanyl. BTW, I bet you think GILF stands for Grandma I'd like to... But no. It stands for "God I love fentanyl"