Gift card scam

[Donald]

There are two scams going around involving gift cards.

1) someone goes to a self service register buys a gift card but does not finish the transaction. Just walks away with the gift card. Hopefully next person in line scans a few more items and pays for everything including the gift card.

2) someone takes out the gift cards in the rack and replaces them with ones they brought in. As soon as there is money on the gift card they divert it into their account.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

For #1, most stores don't even let you purchase gift cards at the self-checkout. You have to go to a register with a human cashier, or to the customer service desk, in order to buy gift cards.

Every store I've been to requires gift cards to be bought at a manned register, not a self-checkout.

 

[Rand]

For #1, most stores don't even let you purchase gift cards at the self-checkout. You have to go to a register with a human cashier, or to the customer service desk, in order to buy gift cards.

Every store I've been too requires gift cards to be bought at a manned register, not a self-checkout.

Giant eagle and Meijer Do
they wont sell you certain high scam Giftcards at the self check though.. such as Bestbuy, google pay etc.
Cant remember for home depot and lowes.

Edit: word switched.

 

[Donald]

1) is one I read about. 2) is one my daughter (who works at a major retailer) told me about.

 

[Hall]

# 1 seems like a 100,000 to 1 chance of working. Who uses a self-checkout when there's already items listed on the screen ? Sorry, I don't see that happening.

# 2 - you can transfer money from gift cards ? News to me...

 

[mk378]

The first part of scheme 2 is that someone steals a bunch of inactive cards from the rack and takes them out of the store. He then re-prints the bar code on half of them to make duplicate pairs of the other half. Then he puts the duplicate cards back on the rack. When someone buys one of the duplicates, the bar code activates the original card that he still has. The mag stripe and the scratch off redemption code on the original card is the one that works. The duplicate remains worthless.

 

[Hall]

The first part of scheme 2 is that someone steals...

Who says criminals are stupid ?!?! That's impressive thinking, you have to admit !

 

[SHOZ]

# 1 seems like a 100,000 to 1 chance of working. Who uses a self-checkout when there's already items listed on the screen ? Sorry, I don't see that happening.

# 2 - you can transfer money from gift cards ? News to me...

You can take gift cards and load them on an Amazon gift card. It's what I do with small rebate gift cards.

 

[Hall]

You can take gift cards and load them on an Amazon gift card. It's what I do with small rebate gift cards.

Yeah, I've done that myself with VISA/MC gift cards but that still restricts me to buying something on Amazon.

 

[Rand]

they resell it on the GC reseller sites.
or buy goods and sell them.

 

[KCJeep]

Giant eagle and Meijer Do
they wont sell you certain high scam Giftcards at the self check though.. such as Bestbuy, google pay etc.
Cant remember for home depot and lowes.

Edit: word switched.

Lowe’s made me go to the service desk when I bought one at Christmas. Never heard of either of these scams.

 

[Rand]

Lowe’s made me go to the service desk when I bought one at Christmas. Never heard of either of these scams.

That part really isnt the scam. They buy the GC with stolen CC at the self pay.. that is the scam.
I was just saying they sell most GC at the self pay at Giant eagle, and meijer.. they also sell them at the self pay at get-go gas stations (so equipped)

There was some issue with Home depot GC because I know Giant eagle had to pull all theirs and put out new updated ones.
Dont know the details on that.