With holiday shopping underway, authorities have issued an alert about a pervasive scam where criminals tamper with retail gift cards and steal people’s money. NBC News’ Maggie Vespa has more on how people can protect their money.
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#Scam #Giftcards #Shopping
The stores need to take more responsibility in protecting their customers.. all gift cards should be held behind the counter or the very least, the cashiers need to be trained to inspect the cards..
People will literally steal anything in stores. Not everything can be kept behind a counter. The counter would take up the whole store. And people will jump over or simply walk around counters when they feel belligerent or are quite drunk. Many things are put in lock cases, but then people complain they have to wait for someone to open the case. There is no perfect solution.
They won’t sadly look how theyre replacing ppl with self checkout
No gift cards for my family this year. Plus, these scammers are officially on the naughty list.
for the victims who’s money where drained out I hope you guys get justice and those thieves dang why would you steal a gift card don’t you see everyone is working hard for their money like don’t guys ever expirence a job before
Yea, get some.
The stores need to keep them behind the counter and give it once purchased
Yep, problem solved
This time of year it is so easy because you buy the cards sometimes weeks in advance so they have plenty of time to try the codes and see if they have been activated. They usually only have a small window to use the codes between purchase/activation and using the card. Until the card it purchased it is not activated and the codes are useless.
if the card is not comprimized it dosent have an expiration
@@rogerrosen2323 I meant the scammers have plenty of time. Usually people buy a gift card and use it within a couple of days but at Christmas you gave thousands of gift cards bring bought, gifted, then put away while people celebrate the holidays and thru might use the card over a month later.
Great, now gift cards will start being locked up.
This is not a new scam. We had that happen in our store 5 years ago where the thieves put it back on the shelves with convincing new strips over the bar codes
giftcards are terrible presents. why would anyone give a card that profits the %1 as a gift. its a worse present then money
Easy solution… don’t buy gift cards
Welcome to Obama/ Biden’s America.
Easy solution don’t buy gift cards
Use cash or buy an electronic gift card
The usual suspects.
This is why I never purchase gift cards from stores like this. I go straight to the bank and get a Visa gift card. It can be used anywhere in any store and online and most of all thieves are just walking into the banks to steal the cards and then return them later.😂
Left out an important part of the story. The police department reached out to Target for assistance but Target didn’t want to help the police.
Please cite source
Who cares
You did enough to comment.
Criminals are jerks
i saw a gift card hanging on a clip strip, immediately looked like a red flag
Sheeeeeeeettt
Christmas under joe Biden is a scary reality I don’t want to continue living in
You’re a fun fact fool this was going on before Biden🤡
On one side, call centre scammers are demanding gift card and on the other side, these morons are doing an organised crime by robbing gift cards. What a world we are living in.
Useless story. No real content.
Why don’t they show what a tampered card looks like?
This why I always get gift cards from the back not the front or either get my gift cards in bulk from gyft
I thought about this years ago. You could just read the code and cover it back up and have a automated program to verify when the codes are activated
It’s been going on for years; I read about it going on several years ago.
the crooks dont activate the codes the pourchaser does then they some how drian it before the customer knows it
That’s still a thing? They deserve to get scammed.
Don’t buy gift cards…..period.
Pretty soon they will not sell anymore so sad lots of people purchase gift cards because their convenient. So sad shame on them!
The fact that news is just now catching up to this OLD scam tells you how informative they are….
Lost about $200 in gift cards from my baby shower this year.
About a year ago I got one for my brother but it was empty. I had all the receipts and tried my best to get the money back. They make it very difficult to. I never got it back.
the stores need to figure out how to make sure people aren’t placing cards on their racks, or see balance on checkout… thats insane that customers have to check for this stuff
it isnr till after they are activated they see balance they arent drained until then they mention 2 asians could see adata base thats high tech
Necessity is the mother of invention!! 😢
A couple of questions:
1) How do the scammers drain the card out of funds? I thought once you purchase the card, you can only use it online or at the store to shop with, but can’t get cash back?
2) How do scammers know that the stolen cards they replaced are the same ones that were purchased – customers could have purchased cards that were untouched.
I think they steal the card and set up an account for it online, when the purchaser buys it, they get a text or notification that the card has loaded x amount of dollars. They immediately transfer or use all the funds. I really think these criminals work for an organized crime syndicate. It seems unlikely they are working alone.
they take the card, take all the card info down for a later use. pu the card back, people load it with money, and now they have the info to a fully loaded gift card they can use.
itd be great if americans didnt all depend on buying things from 5 different mega corporations to live life.
Gift card should behind glass and lock and key. Its literally digital money.
Hey Stores LOCK UP All THE GIFT CARDS!!! Other things are locked up in stores.
Simple, don’t use gift cards
They’ve been a scam since day 1
How do people come up with this stuff
Wow. That’s messed up. It would be a lot easier to give cash as a gift. I hope some people consider that, and don’t think it’s somehow unacceptable. No risk of getting scammed that way
And give more freedom to choose what they want buy, even shop that only accepts cash as farm market.
Much better to give cash, and less messing around.
About seven per cent of gift cards never get presented, a huge windfall for the organisations.
They’re going as far as taking the cards out the store, tampering with them then bringing them back also have to keep up with the gift cards no idea when they’ll be purchased idk that’s an INSANE amount of time invested 😂
You set email or text alerts to let you know when the card gets money, and you have your browser loaded with the stuff you want.
Get the alert, click “BUY” and it’s done.
Sell the stuff later.
I think they are working for a cut of the money.
LOL businesses gonna fight giving your money back tooth and nail…
Stop selling cards.
The store selling these cards should be liable. Just like a bartender charged for a car accident.
This is not a new scam. Its been happening at the very least the last three years.
Wheres the “the usual suspects” at now? 🤡🤡🤡
Until there are consumer protections for gift cards, little will change. As of now, the retailer often isn’t responsible, the customer is left with little recourse. Better to give money a different way.
How do they scratch the pins off and put it back?
they have a high tech way of doing it the video i sawmdidnt mention it theyhave a few ways in calif they cut the strip and put a smaller card back in the enevelope
wow 5000 target giftcard it would take a handyman entire day’s wages to pay for that
who this handyman working for to get $5000 in a DAY?
@@thegreenone1291 some of them charge 250 an hour that is $520,000 annually for 40 hours a week that is more then your average doctor makes
they have cameras watching you cant put cards back on rack anymore or take too many
@@thegreenone1291 handymen were getting $250 an hour x 8 that’s $2000 a day is $520,000 annually for a 40-hour work week your average MD doesn’t make that
or hear me out just give people cash
Just give out cash then
That explains why the big gift card rack is now locked up tighter than the spray paint.
Mmmm maybe pay people more ad they wouldn’t go to such extremes …not advocating crime but there is a reason for everything this isnt happening in a vacuum
Put them behind the register where only a cashier can sell it to you.
I thought the cards couldn’t be used until they were activated by being scanned by the register unless that’s just a lie to make people think not to steal. I guess now more places will lock their gift cards
The thieves write down the gift card number and PIN then re-package it and put it back on the shelves. You go and grab that same card, load money into it then leave the store. Keep in mind that the thieves still have the gift card number that they’re constantly checking online to see if anyone loaded money into it.
@@tp112p I saw another video that explained this but I guess this explains it too. I heard in the past of people using cards that didn’t work
@@tp112p Hmm that make no sense because even if you have the card actual 16-digit number the pin number don’t you still need the activation number which is printed directly on the walmart receipt at the time of purchase so how are they getting that number ?. The one’s from Apple has a random number on each card you should pre-open them before you purchase them be sure they’re not whited out and have an actual scratch off material just like with lottery tickets but the one thing I cannot figure out is how they are resealing them.
yes they somehow scape the pin number some one mentioned a cop that they cut the strp off but thats noticeable also 2 asians they said used a data base maybe not hecking online all the time so its a race to see who uses it first@@tp112p
Only buy gift cards sold in a sealed envelope. Shrink wrapped and bar code not visible till opened
Why is it people are having a tough time in this country ? Say it. Say it. Say it. Prices rose 120% a year after Biden took office
There used to be a grey scratch off of numbers.
What happened to that?
i think its still there they recover i think food cards sont have this packaging just visa
That’s a lot of work, wow. Almost like getting an actual legal job and being a decent human being but nope 🤷🏻♀️
Just a suggestion,
Either these Check and Cash places or banks should start Gift Card transactions for people.
Since its similar to purchasing a Debit Card.
they do its a permanent debit card and charge a monthly fee sometimes
So, maybe having a different gift card available for every type of article you could ever want should be curtailed? Stores might want to reconsider supporting the growing #ScamCard industry? (And, reconsider to buying online??? Seriously? You do know scammers exist there, too; only there will be no *brick & mortar* to complain TO! 🤦♀️)
Don’t buy them. Don’t expect to ever get your money back
the gift card companies are also stealing from the customers. They stole $200+ from me with a damaged Visa Vanilla gift card cover that still looked brand new. Hindu Customer support was and still is absolutely useless They are only there to collect their paychecks with nothing to show for it and walk away with a false sense of accomplishment while taking everything they have for granted and getting way too comfortable for their own good.
Or… Just buy a birthday card from the dollar store and put cash in it.
This scam has been going on for a while. This happened to me 2 years ago at that very location and neither Target or Apple would give a refund for the gift card. Lesson was don’t buy gift cards anymore and don’t buy Apple Gift cards in particular. $100 dollar lesson.
Unbelievable.
Anonymous love stealing they pretty good with scanning yet they don’t care just steal it.
The vendors now need to make a clear plastic window over the scratch-off part of the card so that buyers can see that it is still intact.
Then the thieves will glue a piece of plastic there.
These scammers are literal scum
Old school is better than tech.
Wow😮
Don’t buy gift cards, keep the money to yourself, don’t buy gifts either
Cold hard cash is always nice to receive. Can be used virtually everywhere & never expires either.
Criminals will do anything but get an honest job
Yesterday as I walking into the 99Cent Store a man was shoplifting leaving the store and hop in a car waiting to take off…
How poor or desperate you got to be to steal from 99Cent Store?
Another tactic by the Elites to get us to shop online so they can track our every purchase/spending habits.
Many of these scammers, shoplifters, rioters, etc. all work for the Elites to destroy businesses, have people do ALL their shopping online, convert to digital currency and bring in the Beast kingdom
Stores need to place the gift cards in a secure location, or locked up in glass cases.
Steal you loose body part, new law, easy fix.
They should get 20 years in Jail.
No wonder I can never find a Target gift card at the store!
People the best gift card is cash it’s accepted everywhere even the place you want to use your gift card
If only there was something we could give instead of cards that we could use at stores to make purchases. 🤔🤔
Buy em online seems even riskier
JUST GIVE CASH FOLKS!
Hello! This was a scam created at least 12 years ago. Us that have worked retail know this is an old scam. Electronic gift cards are more safe.
Some retailers do all they can to not refund you the money, even if you have the receipt.
My brother accidentally threw away an Amazon gift card containing a £20 gift card from me to my sister. Amazon refused to refund me the cash until I threatened to sue them as constructive trustee of the money having a duty to account. Only then did they refund.
So how does it work again? I want to try it.
I have always looked at any gift card i buy. Plus make sure i have a receipt for it.
When I was a cashier, I always checked for guests before they purchased. I would hate for someone having trouble with this so I always told the guests to grab another card because this did happen quite often
good idea dont know howwwww a cop showed they cut off the strip w the code and its activated w the package code someone said they record then put back 5k were stolen they showed
Mmmm…nothing “Allegedly ” about it…
They need to lock up the cards like they do razors and tampons. Lock up the cards, lock up the crooks.
Dont use gift cards. Simple. Just give Cash or Paypal it. Avoid fraud.
Imagine if these cowards put all that freaking effort into owning a business without being a menace to society.
I guess they are encouraging more thieves to try this
There is a huge Chinese cartel that makes millions from gift card scams. They crossed the border and are probably getting free computers and rent thanks to the President. Tell the stores to keep all gift cards behind the counter.
Lock the gift cards up like cigarettes.
What happened to the TODAY show? The news coverage is minimal and leans right, as the hosts can’t wait to get to “Daily Boost” and “shopping segments.” The world is burning, girls!
Treat these cards just like lottery scratch-off tickets. Locked up and behind the counter.
The stores are 100% responsible for keeping these gift cards secure, so put your overpaid CEO’s together and come up with a plan.
Companies selling “gift cards” are a scam as well. When will people learn that an envelope with cash is literally the same thing but better.
got a kohl card ….can i trade to bass pro?
or CASH please 😁😁😁 check ok