We spoke about this scam last year, but once again police departments are warning that this is trending once again this Christmas. Given that gift cards are popular Christmas gifts, the criminal element knows this and are taking advantage to scam you out of your money. In fact, there are several YouTube videos that are basically “how to” tutorials on how to commit this crime, and here’s how they are doing it.
• Criminals will head into a retail store where gift cards are being sold which are not being kept behind the cashier or in a secure location. They will then shoplift as many of a similar card as possible from the display rack.
• Once they back to their home, they will skillfully open each gift card from its packaging – you will read why this is important later
• They will take one of the cards, scan and print its barcode that a teller will use to activate and charge the card with a money amount usually between $25 to $500 dollars.
• They will then stick the copied and printed barcode from the gift card that they retain and place them onto the other cards. They then place the fraudulent card back into the original packaging and seal it back up, so that you can’t see that it was tampered with.
• They will then head to another store that sells the same gift cards and place them back onto the rack (usually in the front spot).
• A victim will unknowingly pick up this altered card, activate and load it at the cashier with a cash amount using the fraudulent bar code. However, the cash credit is transferred to the card that the criminal still possesses. When the owner of the fraudulently created card goes to redeem its value for a purchase, they learn that their card has no value.
So, what are the countermeasures that we can utilize to protect ourselves from becoming a victim of this very common gift card scheme, especially during the holiday season:
• Only purchase gift cars that are kept behind the cashier till or in a secured rack that can only be accessed by an employee of the store.
• Closely look at the package to make sure that it has not been tampered with in any way
• Given that the fraudulent cards are often (not always) placed near the front of the rack, try to pick one more in the middle or the back of the rack
• Before the cashier scans and loads the card, run your finger over the barcode to see it you can feel a sticker-type ridge around the barcode – we call this a clue.
• Rub your finger over the bar code several times, if it is a fraudulent barcode often the ink will transfer to your finger – with a real bar code this will not happen
BUYER BEWARE
The White Hatter
