With the holiday season approaching, the Boston Police Department is warning shoppers to be cautious of gift card scams.
Gift Card Scams: How to Protect Your Money This Holiday Season
Gift cards are a popular holiday gift, but they’ve also become a favorite tool for scammers. These scams can take several forms:
- Payment scams: Fraudsters may pose as a company representative, government official, or family member and instruct victims to buy gift cards, then send them the card numbers and PINs from the back. Once they have that information, the money is gone.
- Tampered cards: Scammers sometimes remove the film covering the PIN on gift cards displayed in stores, record the numbers, then cover the strip with a fake sticker. They monitor the cards online and steal the balance as soon as someone loads funds.
- Digital theft: In some cases, scammers use malicious software to steal the value of cards electronically.
To stay safe, avoid purchasing gift cards from unattended racks or kiosks. Instead, buy them directly from behind a store counter or online from a verified retailer, for example, purchasing a Target Gift Card from Target.com. Always inspect cards for signs of tampering before buying.
Resources & Reporting: If you have paid scammers, there are some actions you can take to protect yourself from further issues and potentially get
money back. Follow the steps below on “What to Do if You were Scammed”
- Victims are encouraged to file a police report with their local area station. Please follow the link (here) to find your local Boston area station.
- If the scammers obtained your Social Security number, go to IdentityTheft.gov
- For additional reporting victims can also file with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).