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 !!!
Sep 13, 2014, 1:42 am
#136
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 131
I don't know man...I don't buy it. Are you sure that there was not even a hint of tampering. A sticker label barcode or some sort of slit or the glue was suspect. There has to be some way the scamsters were able to know exactly when the card was scanned so that they know it has money loaded to it so they can start dumping funds.
Back in June, I bought a VGC from a Ralph's in SoCal. I always check the packaging to make sure they have not been tampered with. I bought it on a Sunday morning but didn't set the pin until the next day. That's when I noticed that the balance was $495 instead of the $500 I had loaded. I pulled up the activity on the website and there was a $5 charge from a Walmart in Minnesota. I called CS and they confirmed the charge in Minnesota so we reported the card as lost. It took 8 weeks to get a replacement card from the time I faxed in the receipts and a copy of the card. I personally think the card was breached before it was packaged.
Sep 13, 2014, 1:37 pm
#137
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 55
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1290841/
I'm starting to think this whole thread should be stickied...
I'm starting to think this whole thread should be stickied...
Sep 13, 2014, 11:53 pm
#138
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 355
They did a great job of tampering. I've studied the tampered packages closely and still can't see any external indications.
Sep 14, 2014, 12:40 am
#139
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,507
Good advice, but I have 3 US Bank GC that were tampered with. External packaging looked perfectly fine. First indication i had was when I stripped off the packaging and the glue was different.
They did a great job of tampering. I've studied the tampered packages closely and still can't see any external indications.
They did a great job of tampering. I've studied the tampered packages closely and still can't see any external indications.
Sep 14, 2014, 3:27 pm
#140
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 355
USB gc are fully sealed. And I buy the pull-tab series whenever possible.
Obvious? I don't know.
've purchased maybe 1000+ of that variety gc and would like to think I've got a good eye. Yet I was fooled.
Spent more time today examining the packaging. As I suspected, they slit the original edge sealing adhesive, got access to the card, then resealed the edge. I still don't know how they got the card out.
Regardless, the only way I might have figured it out ahead of time would have been to run my fingernail along the edge to check the depth of the seam gluing.
On the compromised cards, the adhesive starts maybe 1/8 of an inch closer to the packaging edge, and has a different texture, than the compromised cards.
Again, all very accomplished.
Obvious? I don't know.
've purchased maybe 1000+ of that variety gc and would like to think I've got a good eye. Yet I was fooled.
Spent more time today examining the packaging. As I suspected, they slit the original edge sealing adhesive, got access to the card, then resealed the edge. I still don't know how they got the card out.
Regardless, the only way I might have figured it out ahead of time would have been to run my fingernail along the edge to check the depth of the seam gluing.
On the compromised cards, the adhesive starts maybe 1/8 of an inch closer to the packaging edge, and has a different texture, than the compromised cards.
Again, all very accomplished.
Sep 14, 2014, 8:40 pm
#141
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 41
Similar to a post a coupla' pages back...
While visiting a friend in LA I stopped by a Vons and saw they had a promo for 'buy 2 variable loads, get a $15 coupon', and thought, 'great, I shop at vons for food and stuff'. The topmost card on the rack already had the cardboard ripped off; this concerned me but there were a ton more, so I took the first 10 off, grabbed 2, and replaced the other 10. I informed my cashier about the abnormality.
Anyway, bought both cards, both listed as 'activated' on the little stub/receipt, and the last 4 of each barcode (the decimal version of the barcode being printed on the upper right of the barcode itself) matched. I then went about my day.
While heading home from LA I stopped by a WM to do some business, and found out that one of my two new VGCs wasn't working (tender not valid). Heading back to my car I whipped out my smartphone and checked the balance on the 'bad' card... 'pin cannot be set'. That's an odd error to get, I thought. I called the number on the back of the card and input my card info, 'card not active'. That's not good.
Inspecting both cards, as well as using a VGC from Staples as a tertiary standard, I noticed something odd. So, when you hold up a 'good' card to the light, on the back both the black text and the white BG are 'shiny'; do this with a card and you'll know what I mean. On the 'bad' card, starting just above the decimal printout of the barcode, the card was oddly dull. Running my thumb over the barcode of the 'good' card felt a slightly raised texture to the barcode; this feeling was absent on the 'bad' card. Additionally, there were horizontal striations at the edges of the 'dull' region of the bad card.
As far as I can tell, someone (very carefully) opened the package, sanded/solvent'd off the old barcode and put a new one. When "my" card was activated, a different card was in fact activated. I'm now stuck with an unactivated card, a Vons that refuses to help me by phone, a sympathetic but powerless-to-help-me-without-a-police-report CSR from metabank, and I'm out $500 until this gets fixed.
I guess the takehome is that the thieves are getting more sophisticated, 'cause this goes beyond any 'sticker on the barcode' behavior.
While visiting a friend in LA I stopped by a Vons and saw they had a promo for 'buy 2 variable loads, get a $15 coupon', and thought, 'great, I shop at vons for food and stuff'. The topmost card on the rack already had the cardboard ripped off; this concerned me but there were a ton more, so I took the first 10 off, grabbed 2, and replaced the other 10. I informed my cashier about the abnormality.
Anyway, bought both cards, both listed as 'activated' on the little stub/receipt, and the last 4 of each barcode (the decimal version of the barcode being printed on the upper right of the barcode itself) matched. I then went about my day.
While heading home from LA I stopped by a WM to do some business, and found out that one of my two new VGCs wasn't working (tender not valid). Heading back to my car I whipped out my smartphone and checked the balance on the 'bad' card... 'pin cannot be set'. That's an odd error to get, I thought. I called the number on the back of the card and input my card info, 'card not active'. That's not good.
Inspecting both cards, as well as using a VGC from Staples as a tertiary standard, I noticed something odd. So, when you hold up a 'good' card to the light, on the back both the black text and the white BG are 'shiny'; do this with a card and you'll know what I mean. On the 'bad' card, starting just above the decimal printout of the barcode, the card was oddly dull. Running my thumb over the barcode of the 'good' card felt a slightly raised texture to the barcode; this feeling was absent on the 'bad' card. Additionally, there were horizontal striations at the edges of the 'dull' region of the bad card.
As far as I can tell, someone (very carefully) opened the package, sanded/solvent'd off the old barcode and put a new one. When "my" card was activated, a different card was in fact activated. I'm now stuck with an unactivated card, a Vons that refuses to help me by phone, a sympathetic but powerless-to-help-me-without-a-police-report CSR from metabank, and I'm out $500 until this gets fixed.
I guess the takehome is that the thieves are getting more sophisticated, 'cause this goes beyond any 'sticker on the barcode' behavior.
Sep 14, 2014, 9:33 pm
#142
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 131
Happened to me few months ago too. Call Safeway and ask for gift card department, they will ask you to email/fax receipt, activation slip and etc, then will send you a replacement. Just follow up with them to make sure they get all they need. They were very helpful.
Similar to a post a coupla' pages back...
While visiting a friend in LA I stopped by a Vons and saw they had a promo for 'buy 2 variable loads, get a $15 coupon', and thought, 'great, I shop at vons for food and stuff'. The topmost card on the rack already had the cardboard ripped off; this concerned me but there were a ton more, so I took the first 10 off, grabbed 2, and replaced the other 10. I informed my cashier about the abnormality.
Anyway, bought both cards, both listed as 'activated' on the little stub/receipt, and the last 4 of each barcode (the decimal version of the barcode being printed on the upper right of the barcode itself) matched. I then went about my day.
While heading home from LA I stopped by a WM to do some business, and found out that one of my two new VGCs wasn't working (tender not valid). Heading back to my car I whipped out my smartphone and checked the balance on the 'bad' card... 'pin cannot be set'. That's an odd error to get, I thought. I called the number on the back of the card and input my card info, 'card not active'. That's not good.
Inspecting both cards, as well as using a VGC from Staples as a tertiary standard, I noticed something odd. So, when you hold up a 'good' card to the light, on the back both the black text and the white BG are 'shiny'; do this with a card and you'll know what I mean. On the 'bad' card, starting just above the decimal printout of the barcode, the card was oddly dull. Running my thumb over the barcode of the 'good' card felt a slightly raised texture to the barcode; this feeling was absent on the 'bad' card. Additionally, there were horizontal striations at the edges of the 'dull' region of the bad card.
As far as I can tell, someone (very carefully) opened the package, sanded/solvent'd off the old barcode and put a new one. When "my" card was activated, a different card was in fact activated. I'm now stuck with an unactivated card, a Vons that refuses to help me by phone, a sympathetic but powerless-to-help-me-without-a-police-report CSR from metabank, and I'm out $500 until this gets fixed.
I guess the takehome is that the thieves are getting more sophisticated, 'cause this goes beyond any 'sticker on the barcode' behavior.
While visiting a friend in LA I stopped by a Vons and saw they had a promo for 'buy 2 variable loads, get a $15 coupon', and thought, 'great, I shop at vons for food and stuff'. The topmost card on the rack already had the cardboard ripped off; this concerned me but there were a ton more, so I took the first 10 off, grabbed 2, and replaced the other 10. I informed my cashier about the abnormality.
Anyway, bought both cards, both listed as 'activated' on the little stub/receipt, and the last 4 of each barcode (the decimal version of the barcode being printed on the upper right of the barcode itself) matched. I then went about my day.
While heading home from LA I stopped by a WM to do some business, and found out that one of my two new VGCs wasn't working (tender not valid). Heading back to my car I whipped out my smartphone and checked the balance on the 'bad' card... 'pin cannot be set'. That's an odd error to get, I thought. I called the number on the back of the card and input my card info, 'card not active'. That's not good.
Inspecting both cards, as well as using a VGC from Staples as a tertiary standard, I noticed something odd. So, when you hold up a 'good' card to the light, on the back both the black text and the white BG are 'shiny'; do this with a card and you'll know what I mean. On the 'bad' card, starting just above the decimal printout of the barcode, the card was oddly dull. Running my thumb over the barcode of the 'good' card felt a slightly raised texture to the barcode; this feeling was absent on the 'bad' card. Additionally, there were horizontal striations at the edges of the 'dull' region of the bad card.
As far as I can tell, someone (very carefully) opened the package, sanded/solvent'd off the old barcode and put a new one. When "my" card was activated, a different card was in fact activated. I'm now stuck with an unactivated card, a Vons that refuses to help me by phone, a sympathetic but powerless-to-help-me-without-a-police-report CSR from metabank, and I'm out $500 until this gets fixed.
I guess the takehome is that the thieves are getting more sophisticated, 'cause this goes beyond any 'sticker on the barcode' behavior.
Sep 15, 2014, 12:43 am
#143
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,507
USB gc are fully sealed. And I buy the pull-tab series whenever possible.
Obvious? I don't know.
've purchased maybe 1000+ of that variety gc and would like to think I've got a good eye. Yet I was fooled.
Spent more time today examining the packaging. As I suspected, they slit the original edge sealing adhesive, got access to the card, then resealed the edge. I still don't know how they got the card out.
Regardless, the only way I might have figured it out ahead of time would have been to run my fingernail along the edge to check the depth of the seam gluing.
On the compromised cards, the adhesive starts maybe 1/8 of an inch closer to the packaging edge, and has a different texture, than the compromised cards.
Again, all very accomplished.
Obvious? I don't know.
've purchased maybe 1000+ of that variety gc and would like to think I've got a good eye. Yet I was fooled.
Spent more time today examining the packaging. As I suspected, they slit the original edge sealing adhesive, got access to the card, then resealed the edge. I still don't know how they got the card out.
Regardless, the only way I might have figured it out ahead of time would have been to run my fingernail along the edge to check the depth of the seam gluing.
On the compromised cards, the adhesive starts maybe 1/8 of an inch closer to the packaging edge, and has a different texture, than the compromised cards.
Again, all very accomplished.
Sep 15, 2014, 11:01 am
#145
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 55
Since my run in with the scam gift cards, I always:
1. Pick cards from the back of the rack.
2. Flick around the edges looking for any loose edges.
3. Overall visual inspection of the placement of the viewable card relative to other packages.
And of course, save all receipts and packaging until after verification that the card worked.
With the scam card I got, I picked it from the front of the rack and didn't really do any kind of inspection. Had I beforehand I would have noticed that the edges had been slit with a razor. Hard to notice, even after knowing it was a scam card.
Again, this should probably be stickied due to the extent and number of people running into this.
1. Pick cards from the back of the rack.
2. Flick around the edges looking for any loose edges.
3. Overall visual inspection of the placement of the viewable card relative to other packages.
And of course, save all receipts and packaging until after verification that the card worked.
With the scam card I got, I picked it from the front of the rack and didn't really do any kind of inspection. Had I beforehand I would have noticed that the edges had been slit with a razor. Hard to notice, even after knowing it was a scam card.
Again, this should probably be stickied due to the extent and number of people running into this.
Sep 15, 2014, 11:15 am
#146
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 41
Happened to me few months ago too. Call Safeway and ask for gift card department, they will ask you to email/fax receipt, activation slip and etc, then will send you a replacement. Just follow up with them to make sure they get all they need. They were very helpful.
I agree, though. There should be a sticky/wiki with:
- All the noticeable signs of fraud on the package/card, and steps to take at the register before activation (e.g. open the WHOLE package, inspect the card for XYZ)
- Signs of fraud post-purchase to look for before leaving the store (e.g. card reports as un-activated via the phone number, mag stripe won't read, etc), and how to tell fraud from 'cashier didn't activate the card [right]'
- What to do if you're a victim of fraud (store and card-issuer dependent; there's a lot of different avenues out there and knowing to call Safeway and ask for GC services as vs calling Metabank was a big difference)
I'm willing to help but not sure how much I can contribute.
Sep 20, 2014, 3:55 pm
#147
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 355
Chicago area be on the look out for USB MCGC with exp dates 05/21 and 03/23.
The package tampering is very difficult to detect. (I've spent a couple of hours and had 4 other people look at the packaging. None of us could tell the tampered from the untampered.)
As you open the 03/23 packaging, pry the pin off of the front of the card. Good cards will emit an audible "pop". Tampered cards will give a different crackly sound due to the type of glue the scammers used.
Once you open the package, here's what to look for
- small scratches and scrapes, especially on the right side of the front of the card (presumably from when they razor-bladed the package's glued edge)
- the glue afixing the pin to the face of the gc is the wrong size, shape, location and tackiness
For confirmation, you can check the adhesive holding the glued edge together. On a tampered card, there will be two different layers of glue.
Again, all of the above is noticeable only after you have opened the packaging.
At first I thought I could tell the tampered cards based on examining the glued edge of an unopened package. That has not proven to be reliable.
If anyone else has been able to spot these altered cards based on external issues, please PM me.
The package tampering is very difficult to detect. (I've spent a couple of hours and had 4 other people look at the packaging. None of us could tell the tampered from the untampered.)
As you open the 03/23 packaging, pry the pin off of the front of the card. Good cards will emit an audible "pop". Tampered cards will give a different crackly sound due to the type of glue the scammers used.
Once you open the package, here's what to look for
- small scratches and scrapes, especially on the right side of the front of the card (presumably from when they razor-bladed the package's glued edge)
- the glue afixing the pin to the face of the gc is the wrong size, shape, location and tackiness
For confirmation, you can check the adhesive holding the glued edge together. On a tampered card, there will be two different layers of glue.
Again, all of the above is noticeable only after you have opened the packaging.
At first I thought I could tell the tampered cards based on examining the glued edge of an unopened package. That has not proven to be reliable.
If anyone else has been able to spot these altered cards based on external issues, please PM me.
Sep 20, 2014, 5:11 pm
#148
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,507
Chicago area be on the look out for USB MCGC with exp dates 05/21 and 03/23.
The package tampering is very difficult to detect. (I've spent a couple of hours and had 4 other people look at the packaging. None of us could tell the tampered from the untampered.)
As you open the 03/23 packaging, pry the pin off of the front of the card. Good cards will emit an audible "pop". Tampered cards will give a different crackly sound due to the type of glue the scammers used.
Once you open the package, here's what to look for
- small scratches and scrapes, especially on the right side of the front of the card (presumably from when they razor-bladed the package's glued edge)
- the glue afixing the pin to the face of the gc is the wrong size, shape, location and tackiness
For confirmation, you can check the adhesive holding the glued edge together. On a tampered card, there will be two different layers of glue.
Again, all of the above is noticeable only after you have opened the packaging.
At first I thought I could tell the tampered cards based on examining the glued edge of an unopened package. That has not proven to be reliable.
If anyone else has been able to spot these altered cards based on external issues, please PM me.
The package tampering is very difficult to detect. (I've spent a couple of hours and had 4 other people look at the packaging. None of us could tell the tampered from the untampered.)
As you open the 03/23 packaging, pry the pin off of the front of the card. Good cards will emit an audible "pop". Tampered cards will give a different crackly sound due to the type of glue the scammers used.
Once you open the package, here's what to look for
- small scratches and scrapes, especially on the right side of the front of the card (presumably from when they razor-bladed the package's glued edge)
- the glue afixing the pin to the face of the gc is the wrong size, shape, location and tackiness
For confirmation, you can check the adhesive holding the glued edge together. On a tampered card, there will be two different layers of glue.
Again, all of the above is noticeable only after you have opened the packaging.
At first I thought I could tell the tampered cards based on examining the glued edge of an unopened package. That has not proven to be reliable.
If anyone else has been able to spot these altered cards based on external issues, please PM me.
Sep 20, 2014, 7:39 pm
#149
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
Chicago area be on the look out for USB MCGC with exp dates 05/21 and 03/23.
The package tampering is very difficult to detect. (I've spent a couple of hours and had 4 other people look at the packaging. None of us could tell the tampered from the untampered.)
As you open the 03/23 packaging, pry the pin off of the front of the card. Good cards will emit an audible "pop". Tampered cards will give a different crackly sound due to the type of glue the scammers used.
Once you open the package, here's what to look for
- small scratches and scrapes, especially on the right side of the front of the card (presumably from when they razor-bladed the package's glued edge)
- the glue afixing the pin to the face of the gc is the wrong size, shape, location and tackiness
For confirmation, you can check the adhesive holding the glued edge together. On a tampered card, there will be two different layers of glue.
Again, all of the above is noticeable only after you have opened the packaging.
At first I thought I could tell the tampered cards based on examining the glued edge of an unopened package. That has not proven to be reliable.
If anyone else has been able to spot these altered cards based on external issues, please PM me.
The package tampering is very difficult to detect. (I've spent a couple of hours and had 4 other people look at the packaging. None of us could tell the tampered from the untampered.)
As you open the 03/23 packaging, pry the pin off of the front of the card. Good cards will emit an audible "pop". Tampered cards will give a different crackly sound due to the type of glue the scammers used.
Once you open the package, here's what to look for
- small scratches and scrapes, especially on the right side of the front of the card (presumably from when they razor-bladed the package's glued edge)
- the glue afixing the pin to the face of the gc is the wrong size, shape, location and tackiness
For confirmation, you can check the adhesive holding the glued edge together. On a tampered card, there will be two different layers of glue.
Again, all of the above is noticeable only after you have opened the packaging.
At first I thought I could tell the tampered cards based on examining the glued edge of an unopened package. That has not proven to be reliable.
If anyone else has been able to spot these altered cards based on external issues, please PM me.
Never thought I'd be happy I live in the boonies. Seems like I'm the only one within 100miles who buys $500 GC.
Sep 20, 2014, 8:53 pm
#150
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 355
Visually, the bar code and mag stripe were unaltered. I haven't run the cards through a mag stripe reader, so I cannot say whether it was altered electronically or not.
Cards were drained within roughly 9 hours. The three cards were purchased about 45 minutes apart, but drained at about the same time.
Anecdotally, store managers have told me of cases earlier in the year where "cards were drained before the customer had left the store".
During the week I normally run all of the days cards after supper. Well, that's a gonna haf ta change. lol.
Ran across 3 more bad cards today ... identical alteration pattern. First two were at a store that would not let me check the glue. So I drained those before I left the store. Third one I had manager's permission to break open the packets and caught it before purchase. She was still telling me "the ones with the pull tab can't be tampered" when I showed her the tampered card.
This adds to the time and drama required, both of which I actively work to minimize. <ugh>
So far I'm not seeing any altered Sunrise vgc. Perhaps because their packaging is more tamper resistant?
Cards were drained within roughly 9 hours. The three cards were purchased about 45 minutes apart, but drained at about the same time.
Anecdotally, store managers have told me of cases earlier in the year where "cards were drained before the customer had left the store".
During the week I normally run all of the days cards after supper. Well, that's a gonna haf ta change. lol.
Ran across 3 more bad cards today ... identical alteration pattern. First two were at a store that would not let me check the glue. So I drained those before I left the store. Third one I had manager's permission to break open the packets and caught it before purchase. She was still telling me "the ones with the pull tab can't be tampered" when I showed her the tampered card.
This adds to the time and drama required, both of which I actively work to minimize. <ugh>
So far I'm not seeing any altered Sunrise vgc. Perhaps because their packaging is more tamper resistant?