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 4, 2014, 3:24 pm
#106
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 939
IWOL, follow the dispute process as outlined by Metabank. You wil be made whole.
IF you attempt to initiate a chargeback it will be the grocery store you purchased from that will be hit. That may cause blowback and make them go cash only for GCs in the future. 2-3 months isn't THAT bad.
Good Luck and Report Back
For anyone hoping to get in the game... if you cant float the cost of a few GCs here and there while cases get sorted out the right way then this game may not be for you.
IF you attempt to initiate a chargeback it will be the grocery store you purchased from that will be hit. That may cause blowback and make them go cash only for GCs in the future. 2-3 months isn't THAT bad.
Good Luck and Report Back
For anyone hoping to get in the game... if you cant float the cost of a few GCs here and there while cases get sorted out the right way then this game may not be for you.
Sep 4, 2014, 4:05 pm
#107
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 168
IWOL, follow the dispute process as outlined by Metabank. You wil be made whole.
IF you attempt to initiate a chargeback it will be the grocery store you purchased from that will be hit. That may cause blowback and make them go cash only for GCs in the future. 2-3 months isn't THAT bad.
Good Luck and Report Back
For anyone hoping to get in the game... if you cant float the cost of a few GCs here and there while cases get sorted out the right way then this game may not be for you.
IF you attempt to initiate a chargeback it will be the grocery store you purchased from that will be hit. That may cause blowback and make them go cash only for GCs in the future. 2-3 months isn't THAT bad.
Good Luck and Report Back
For anyone hoping to get in the game... if you cant float the cost of a few GCs here and there while cases get sorted out the right way then this game may not be for you.
I did not inspect the VGC very closely when I purchased it. It difinitly still had the flap attached at the back an di dnot look tampered with. After finding out that the card was drianed I looked at the card very closely and can see that the card had scratches on the back as well as sticky glue that is different from the glue normally used.
I purchased the card at a Vons on the evening of the 30th and the card was used for a pin based transaction at Rite Aid for $499.95 on the next morning maybe an hour before I went to use it.
I dont know how Metabank will be able to determine wheteher or not I made this charge or not in their investigation.
Sep 4, 2014, 4:11 pm
#110
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,500
Thanks for the replys. I can float the $500 no problem, 90 days just seems like an unreasonable amoount of time. I could understand 30 days. I will wait and see how the investigation pans out.
I did not inspect the VGC very closely when I purchased it. It difinitly still had the flap attached at the back an di dnot look tampered with. After finding out that the card was drianed I looked at the card very closely and can see that the card had scratches on the back as well as sticky glue that is different from the glue normally used.
I purchased the card at a Vons on the evening of the 30th and the card was used for a pin based transaction at Rite Aid for $499.95 on the next morning maybe an hour before I went to use it.
I dont know how Metabank will be able to determine wheteher or not I made this charge or not in their investigation.
I did not inspect the VGC very closely when I purchased it. It difinitly still had the flap attached at the back an di dnot look tampered with. After finding out that the card was drianed I looked at the card very closely and can see that the card had scratches on the back as well as sticky glue that is different from the glue normally used.
I purchased the card at a Vons on the evening of the 30th and the card was used for a pin based transaction at Rite Aid for $499.95 on the next morning maybe an hour before I went to use it.
I dont know how Metabank will be able to determine wheteher or not I made this charge or not in their investigation.
Let this be a lesson to you to never take your eye off the ball. Always take the few extra minutes to full inspect the packaging of the VGC for any sort of slits/cuts on the back of the packaging. If I ever saw that on a VGC, I would probably just turn that VGC or any series of VGCs to the store manager so that they do not get sold. Worse case, I would ensure that specific VGC would not be found so that the scammer could not profit from it.
Exactly. This situation is not the same as CC fraud since the person who purchased the VGC from the grocery store was actually yourself. What happened to the VGC once you left the grocery store is not the grocery store's responsibility. With CC fraud its a different story since the purchases that were made were not of your own doing. Therefore the card issuer will bear that responsibility.
Sep 4, 2014, 4:16 pm
#111
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 168
They told me they were sending out a new card which will have a balance of $0.05 right now and that they will refund the $499.95 to the new card.
Sep 4, 2014, 5:25 pm
#112
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 572
It took 3 weeks to get a new giftcard from the GC company and money transferred onto the card.
I posted about it on Fatwallet
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/fina...90841/?start=0
Sep 4, 2014, 7:54 pm
#114
Moderator: Manufactured Spending
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6,578
IMO 90 days is a very reasonable amount of time to investigate something like this. Large companies don't move as quickly as individuals.
Sep 4, 2014, 9:03 pm
#116
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 51
For reply to above post : I try to solve with the merchant that is the store but they said the store cannot do a refund for the gift card. In my case as soon as I purchased the card, I try to use in nearby Walmart and it won't work. I went back to the store to replace the card buy they won't do it. I call the number to find that balance and the card still had a balance of $500. The store manager said once they sell the card they won't do exchange or returns and I have to deal with the bank. The money got drained at the night.
Reply to IWOL. I registered the card online. To my surprise they put the money back on the same card, which was not working first of all. I have to use AP to take the money out. This seems so stupid to put the money back on the same card. I think it is better to wait for few more days for a replacement card.
Reply to IWOL. I registered the card online. To my surprise they put the money back on the same card, which was not working first of all. I have to use AP to take the money out. This seems so stupid to put the money back on the same card. I think it is better to wait for few more days for a replacement card.
Last edited by Sam2014; Sep 4, 2014 at 9:06 pm Reason: edit
Sep 5, 2014, 1:33 am
#118
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,500
Sep 5, 2014, 2:33 am
#119
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Somewhere above the Mason-Dixon
Programs: DL Ham Samich
Posts: 1,659
Certainly appears that way. Filed a police report Friday.
Card was used at places with great loss prevention like target, Macy's and best buy so I feel confident we'll be able to at least get a good look at who it is. Though unfortunately, it's probably someone I know....
Card was used at places with great loss prevention like target, Macy's and best buy so I feel confident we'll be able to at least get a good look at who it is. Though unfortunately, it's probably someone I know....
Sep 5, 2014, 2:35 am
#120
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Somewhere above the Mason-Dixon
Programs: DL Ham Samich
Posts: 1,659
Well they weren't in plain sight, but I can see how it sounded that way. The card was still in the UPS envelope amongst a stack of other work related things. And I have far too many cards in my wallet to accommodate any giftcards