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 !!!
Jul 1, 2014, 7:39 pm
#61
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 51
I had the same problem few days back. Giftcard mall put the money back in the same card. I use the card and took all the money as soon as I got it. I wounder why they put the money back in the same card !!!
Hemet Fraud Heaven !!!
Hemet Fraud Heaven !!!
Jul 1, 2014, 7:49 pm
#63
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Iowa
Posts: 122
Are you serious? That sounds exceedingly stupid. On the other hand, once the card is identified loaded and then spent, it's no doubt totally removed from the fraudster's monitoring scripts. I suppose that's a safe gamble but not one I would expect a legitimate company to make. I mean unless you told GCM you were going to buy a MO right away (??), for all they know you were going to hold onto the card and use it for small stuff for months.
Of course if any of the crooks are reading this, they'll be updating their software with all haste.
Of course if any of the crooks are reading this, they'll be updating their software with all haste.
all this happened because the card was not working initially before the fraud. I have to use other means to take the money from the card.
Jul 1, 2014, 10:49 pm
#65
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,504
Jul 2, 2014, 7:42 am
#67
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: LAX
Posts: 2,851
Awhile back, I bought a Gift card in the amount of $100. NO sign of tempering of package. Waited for 3 days to pay for utility bill. Told it wouldn't go through only to find out that $99.50 was used by fraudster at a Wally 60 miles from home the day after I bought the gift card.
This is Vons in Southern CA
This is Vons in Southern CA
Jul 2, 2014, 7:52 am
#68
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: USA
Posts: 1,179
Awhile back, I bought a Gift card in the amount of $100. NO sign of tempering of package. Waited for 3 days to pay for utility bill. Told it wouldn't go through only to find out that $99.50 was used by fraudster at a Wally 60 miles from home the day after I bought the gift card.
This is Vons in Southern CA
This is Vons in Southern CA
Scary. I try to liquidate within a few hours of buying any sort of GCs, but it's still hard for me to "spot" a tampered card
Jul 2, 2014, 10:07 am
#69
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,504
Awhile back, I bought a Gift card in the amount of $100. NO sign of tempering of package. Waited for 3 days to pay for utility bill. Told it wouldn't go through only to find out that $99.50 was used by fraudster at a Wally 60 miles from home the day after I bought the gift card.
This is Vons in Southern CA
This is Vons in Southern CA
Jul 10, 2014, 11:08 am
#70
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 14
I would imagine a deduction after the card is loaded? Maybe they typically charge someone to mail out the new card? Don't know since I've never kept one beyond a trip to see Kate.
Pretty sure I'm done with this since it just happened again with another card. Fool me once and all...
Pretty sure I'm done with this since it just happened again with another card. Fool me once and all...
Jul 10, 2014, 1:39 pm
#73
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,060
Or buy and dump like I did. I was in NM and within an hour+, three times ovr three days, I bought and dumped 10K+ with no probs.
All depends on how much time u want to spend on vacation, or if ur SO is into the game as well!
All depends on how much time u want to spend on vacation, or if ur SO is into the game as well!
Jul 10, 2014, 2:07 pm
#74
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: Delta
Posts: 38
I don't think this protects you necessarily. I recently purchased a US Bank MC GC and didn't get around to unloading before a short trip. When I returned I found that someone had used the gap to auth the card, then shortly after that made an expedia purchase. The packaging did not appear to be tampered with at all, fortunately, I had registered this particular card so I could use it to pay Citi, so the expedia charge did not go through. I didn't hesitate for a second and drained on evolve.