There's an article about this on snopes.com (my favorite site for investigating urban legends) -- http://www.snopes.com/fraud/sales/giftcard.asp, and they give some great tips for safeguarding your gift card purchases. The tips include:
- Inspect both sides of the card before purchasing. Do not purchase if it seems that the card has been tampered with.
- Right after you buy the card, ask the cashier to scan it and show you the value and that its valid (which protects you if the card was compromised before you purchased it).
- Purchase gift cards only from reputable sellers.
I know that I like getting (and giving) gift cards, and I don't want fear of fraud to deter anyone from buying them. Like anything else, you can combat fraud by being savvy.
Lainie
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kelso 1600 <kelso1600@hotmail.com> wrote:
"You can get Amex (and a wide variety of other) gift cards and at the supermarket and many drug stores. "
Be careful if you are buying a gift card from a place where they are on display such as a supermarket or drug store. If you must buy there, then choose a card that is at the back of the rack.
Apparently the scam this year is people who go record gift card numbers on the rack, wait for them to be purchased/authorized and then use them before the buyer (or recipient) uses the card thus getting all the value.
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