Apr 13, 2015, 12:55 pm
Last edit by: phant0m
************Gift Card Fraud Alert************
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
How can I protect myself?
1) Do not buy a card that has been opened or looks tampered with. Inspect all packaging thoroughly before purchasing. Many posters say that the packaging looks pristine, but the glue seems excessive once opened. Open the package to inspect the glue before you pay for it, if the cashier allows that.
2) Use the card quickly. The card has no value until YOU add money. If you spend your funds before the fraudster figures out that it's loaded, you win. Or at least register your card. That might give you another layer of security but beware it might NOT be bulletproof.
3) Keep your receipts and packaging until your card is liquidated. You will need the receipt to make a claim.
I'll add a few more from the school of hard knocks (also now known as the school of the paranoid MSer)....
4) If it's the only card of its type left on the rack, should you buy it or not? Consider: did the fraudster remove all the other cards so some sucker would quickly come along quickly and buy the card he has placed there purposefully?
5) A corollary to #4: Should you buy the top card in a stack of cards, or dig deeper and pick out one a distance from the top? Did the fraudster put the card he wants some sucker to buy at the top of the stack so it would sell quickly and he could do his evil deed?
6) Open card packages soon after purchase. Don't wait a few days. If anything looks amiss (too much glue inside the pack, too little glue inside, glue in the wrong location, mag stripe doesn't look right, some card numbers illegible), call the 800 number on the back of the card immediately to report it and ask about a replacement.
Each link of Gift Card MS:
1. Gift Card issuer: Vanilla, Metabank, US Bank, Green Dot etc. There can be data hack. It is rare.
2. GC Merchant: grocery and drug stores. Online GC sellers (Simon Mall, Gift Card Mall etc.). The data hack is possible, but rare.
3. Shipping: GCs can be stolen. But this is not fraud.
4. GC Cash Out: Walmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar, CVS etc. This is very rare.
For unsold GCs with bar code exposed, the store is required to destroy the GCs. Fraud can happen when the unsuspecting store staff return the unsold GCs back to the shelf. But it is very rare to have a batch of GCs all tampered and returned to the store shelf.
Here is a web site with information about gift card fraud:
http://www.tripwire.com/state-of-sec...-so-lucrative/
Here are some stores where FT members have experienced fraud:
List of Stores to avoid or be Alert:
(1) Reported by IWOL in So Cal:
VONS => Ventura Blvd & Reseda
Reported by Lovenola:
Ralph's in Downey at 9200 Lakewood Blvd.
Ralph's in Pasadena at 211 E. Foothill Blvd.
Ralph's in Monrovia at 1193 Huntington Dr.
3) Reported by domino007
Ralphs in 13321 Jamboree Rd, Tustin
Ralphs in Irvine on Alton, Walnut and Irvine Blvd
Reported by DaveInLA:
Ralphs in Brea- 305 W Imperial Hwy. VGC was purchased in 12/2014.
Reported by 46sky:
Ralphs in Culver City on Venice Blvd - VGC purchased 2/2015.
Reported by Chrisflyer66:
Ralphs in San Diego on Sports Arena - VGCs purchased in 2014-2015.
Ralph's - 1435 W Chapman Ave, Orange, CA 92868 - Purchased 12/2019
Seems to me that only People in so.Cal are reporting
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
How can I protect myself?
1) Do not buy a card that has been opened or looks tampered with. Inspect all packaging thoroughly before purchasing. Many posters say that the packaging looks pristine, but the glue seems excessive once opened. Open the package to inspect the glue before you pay for it, if the cashier allows that.
2) Use the card quickly. The card has no value until YOU add money. If you spend your funds before the fraudster figures out that it's loaded, you win. Or at least register your card. That might give you another layer of security but beware it might NOT be bulletproof.
3) Keep your receipts and packaging until your card is liquidated. You will need the receipt to make a claim.
I'll add a few more from the school of hard knocks (also now known as the school of the paranoid MSer)....
4) If it's the only card of its type left on the rack, should you buy it or not? Consider: did the fraudster remove all the other cards so some sucker would quickly come along quickly and buy the card he has placed there purposefully?
5) A corollary to #4: Should you buy the top card in a stack of cards, or dig deeper and pick out one a distance from the top? Did the fraudster put the card he wants some sucker to buy at the top of the stack so it would sell quickly and he could do his evil deed?
6) Open card packages soon after purchase. Don't wait a few days. If anything looks amiss (too much glue inside the pack, too little glue inside, glue in the wrong location, mag stripe doesn't look right, some card numbers illegible), call the 800 number on the back of the card immediately to report it and ask about a replacement.
Each link of Gift Card MS:
1. Gift Card issuer: Vanilla, Metabank, US Bank, Green Dot etc. There can be data hack. It is rare.
2. GC Merchant: grocery and drug stores. Online GC sellers (Simon Mall, Gift Card Mall etc.). The data hack is possible, but rare.
3. Shipping: GCs can be stolen. But this is not fraud.
4. GC Cash Out: Walmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar, CVS etc. This is very rare.
For unsold GCs with bar code exposed, the store is required to destroy the GCs. Fraud can happen when the unsuspecting store staff return the unsold GCs back to the shelf. But it is very rare to have a batch of GCs all tampered and returned to the store shelf.
Here is a web site with information about gift card fraud:
http://www.tripwire.com/state-of-sec...-so-lucrative/
Here are some stores where FT members have experienced fraud:
List of Stores to avoid or be Alert:
(1) Reported by IWOL in So Cal:
VONS => Ventura Blvd & Reseda
Reported by Lovenola:
Ralph's in Downey at 9200 Lakewood Blvd.
Ralph's in Pasadena at 211 E. Foothill Blvd.
Ralph's in Monrovia at 1193 Huntington Dr.
3) Reported by domino007
Ralphs in 13321 Jamboree Rd, Tustin
Ralphs in Irvine on Alton, Walnut and Irvine Blvd
Reported by DaveInLA:
Ralphs in Brea- 305 W Imperial Hwy. VGC was purchased in 12/2014.
Reported by 46sky:
Ralphs in Culver City on Venice Blvd - VGC purchased 2/2015.
Reported by Chrisflyer66:
Ralphs in San Diego on Sports Arena - VGCs purchased in 2014-2015.
Ralph's - 1435 W Chapman Ave, Orange, CA 92868 - Purchased 12/2019
Seems to me that only People in so.Cal are reporting
Gift Card Fraud !!!
Nov 25, 2016, 11:24 pm
#901
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: SFO
Programs: United Gold (frmer. 1k and GS), AAdvantage Platinum, Alaska MVP Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 200
I use U.S. Bank MGCs as my bread and butter - I find it runs as debit more often then MetaVGCs or OVs and have fewer problems unloading via PP, GW, Square, Stripe, etc.
Nevertheless, I now agree that in the case of fraud they are the hardest to deal with. I bought a $200 in October that was emptied two hours after purchase (I live in NorCal, so for me a rarity) but I got the funds back in a couple weeks. My advice: call USB a few times and follow up in writing, online or by letter. Seemed to move things along faster.
I now buy the USB MGCs and unload them in the parking lot after purchasing online or at the Wally close to Staples. GC fraud is now a growing concern...
Nevertheless, I now agree that in the case of fraud they are the hardest to deal with. I bought a $200 in October that was emptied two hours after purchase (I live in NorCal, so for me a rarity) but I got the funds back in a couple weeks. My advice: call USB a few times and follow up in writing, online or by letter. Seemed to move things along faster.
I now buy the USB MGCs and unload them in the parking lot after purchasing online or at the Wally close to Staples. GC fraud is now a growing concern...
Nov 26, 2016, 2:40 pm
#902
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 8
Sorry to bump an old post, but this doesn't make any sense. You can't dispute gift card transactions to get your money back. You could just go spend your card and dispute it to double your money. I've processed hundreds of thousands of dollars of gift cards from customers and never had a single dispute.
May 22, 2017, 2:41 pm
#905
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,903
I know this thread is getting old, but I just wanted to add a tidbit from US Bank. While talking to them about a Mastercard GC, they told me they purge transactions older than 12 months. Also if the card goes to $0 it gets deleted from their system. I try not to keep cards long, but thought I should mention it after reading some of the other comments there.
Aug 4, 2017, 12:38 pm
#906
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: So Cal
Programs: UA Gold/0.744MM, WN AL, Hyatt Diamond, MR Scum, Hertz PC, National Exec, Avis PC
Posts: 5,561
Well, I got hit for the second time in my MS career
MB VGC bought at a local Vons in Orange County, CA. Went to liquidate it 3 days after purchase and it was already drained of all but 3.79. Charges were at several locations in San Diego County (2x Vons, Circle K, SmashBurger, Kohls, and Walmart)
Timeline:
So all in all, almost 2 months to get the money back....
If they had tried to push back I actually would have had good ammunition. Several of the transactions were made on 6/6, and it just so happened that I left on a work trip to FL on 6/5, so I wasn't even in the state where the transactions were made and I had the card with me, so.....
Edit:
Forgot to mention - no evidence of tampering at all. I only take cards that don't have the strip removed and I always feel for the physical texture of the bar code as I got one once that had a photocopied sticker over the entire back of the card. No odd glue and no evidence the package had been sliced and resealed. Card may have been older stock as it had a 2/24 expiration date
MB VGC bought at a local Vons in Orange County, CA. Went to liquidate it 3 days after purchase and it was already drained of all but 3.79. Charges were at several locations in San Diego County (2x Vons, Circle K, SmashBurger, Kohls, and Walmart)
Timeline:
- Initially reported fraud on June 6
- Submitted dispute form via email on June 9
- Confirmed on June 9 that form had been received
- Received letter dated June 20 requesting copies of: purchase receipt, activation receipt, front/back of card, and credit card statement showing purchase
- Called July 7, no status
- Received letter dated July 26 indicating the dispute was closed and listed the dispute amount, but then said that the credit issued to my account in the amount of "$00" is final. Called in and confirmed card balance was back up to $500
So all in all, almost 2 months to get the money back....
If they had tried to push back I actually would have had good ammunition. Several of the transactions were made on 6/6, and it just so happened that I left on a work trip to FL on 6/5, so I wasn't even in the state where the transactions were made and I had the card with me, so.....
Edit:
Forgot to mention - no evidence of tampering at all. I only take cards that don't have the strip removed and I always feel for the physical texture of the bar code as I got one once that had a photocopied sticker over the entire back of the card. No odd glue and no evidence the package had been sliced and resealed. Card may have been older stock as it had a 2/24 expiration date
Aug 4, 2017, 12:49 pm
#907
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: SAN
Programs: Delta Gold. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Explorist.
Posts: 1,674
Well, I got hit for the second time in my MS career
MB VGC bought at a local Vons in Orange County, CA. Went to liquidate it 3 days after purchase and it was already drained of all but 3.79. Charges were at several locations in San Diego County (2x Vons, Circle K, SmashBurger, Kohls, and Walmart)
MB VGC bought at a local Vons in Orange County, CA. Went to liquidate it 3 days after purchase and it was already drained of all but 3.79. Charges were at several locations in San Diego County (2x Vons, Circle K, SmashBurger, Kohls, and Walmart)
I'm glad you got your money back.
Last edited by ChrisFlyer66; Aug 5, 2017 at 8:54 pm Reason: fixed grammar
Aug 4, 2017, 12:57 pm
#908
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,060
I concur. In my case, I had a legit gift card in the packaging, but the serial number didn't match the packaging. Fortunately, I called Incomm right away, and they were able to move the balance over to the physical card I had. I liquidated the balance within an hour.
Aug 4, 2017, 5:33 pm
#910
Join Date: May 2015
Location: LAX, BUR
Programs: AS,AA,JB, HH Gold, Starriott Titanium Elite, Hyatt Explorist, Global Entry
Posts: 1,933
Aug 5, 2017, 9:48 am
#911
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: SAN
Programs: Delta Gold. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Explorist.
Posts: 1,674
Aug 21, 2017, 1:14 pm
#914
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 3,267
Think I got a winner at Vons today. Packaging looked fine, but when I opened it to liquidate, I noticed that the glue holding the instruction sheet to the card was the wrong kind. Rather than the usual rubber cement-type substance, it seemed to be a water-based "Elmer's glue" type adhesive.
Luckily, I was already on my way to liquidate, and sure enough...the card wouldn't swipe. Called in and got a replacement sent out. Glad I don't hold these things more than 30 mins...no idea what happens to people who actually use these gift cards as intended (ie as gifts, which means they sit around for weeks/months).
Luckily, I was already on my way to liquidate, and sure enough...the card wouldn't swipe. Called in and got a replacement sent out. Glad I don't hold these things more than 30 mins...no idea what happens to people who actually use these gift cards as intended (ie as gifts, which means they sit around for weeks/months).
Aug 21, 2017, 1:33 pm
#915
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,060
Luckily, I was already on my way to liquidate, and sure enough...the card wouldn't swipe. Called in and got a replacement sent out. Glad I don't hold these things more than 30 mins...no idea what happens to people who actually use these gift cards as intended (ie as gifts, which means they sit around for weeks/months).
I'm glad you were able to get a replacement sent quickly. Incomm does a pretty good job of sending a replacement and/or activating the on in the packaging if it's one of their cards. It's an inconvenience, but at least you're not out any money.