The purchase of gift cards has grown significantly in recent years due to their convenience; however, the “bad actors” have become more crafty and are tampering with those gift cards, which has been termed gift card draining scams. Monmouth Police Department Investigator Josh Kramer explains what to be on the lookout for:
“What happens is the gift cards have some sort of an overlay put on them. Now, whether it be over the entire card or just the bottom of the card or just the bar code reader, what they are doing is when that card gets activated, those funds are getting transferred to usually another prepaid debit like credit card. Then the scammer gets an alert and those funds are shipped into another account. So, when you are buying your gift cards, inspect them. If you look at one now you will see that it is all solid. There is no raising, no fraying of the corners, or anything like that. If you see any of that, there is a good chance that has an overlay on it. The other thing is that a lot of the gift cards you have to scratch the little piece off, if that has been altered in any way, that’s another sign.”
A lot of times, gift card draining is not identified until the consumer goes to use the card and finds out there are no funds. Investigator Kramer stresses it is very important to inspect any gift card before purchasing.
For the complete interview with Investigator Kramer, click here.
