Gift cards fraudulently used -- $250 in gift cards worthless

So sorry that happened @Flowers. Scary to think someone is always watching everything looking for a way to scam or steal.

I’m more ignorant than I thought, I didn’t know someone could just copy numbers and turn it into a legit card, I always assumed there was additional coding built into the real bar code card that would negate a fake card.

Thank you for sharing, especially this time of year when we are buying or using gift cards to be extra careful.
Hope they are able to dig deep enough to be able to reimburse you.

 

Flowers - thank you for warning those of us from the older generations that don't realize what can result from online postings.

Back to the old adage - if you don't have something nice to say..............

Have a fabulous Christmas and for always sharing your trips!

Ann

 

You're welcome @Geogran and @annbrown57. In reading online about gift card theft in the past couple of hours I have learned that if you are buying gift cards in a store it is better to purchase those that are behind a counter than on the racks in a store as criminals now can scan the numbers from the cards in the racks and use bots and other methods to in some cases successfully determine PINs after a card has been activated.

I have often purchased them from the racks and never had a problem but it is something to keep in mind.

 

Thanks Sonya. I am a glass half full person and already have some perspective on this. For $250 and a some stress for about an hour, I learned a lesson that may have prevented me from losing a lot more $$ in a different context and I am glad some VMBers found the information helpful. In that respect, the cost of this lesson was pretty inexpensive.

The internet is so great though as you noted it can be used to do bad stuff. This board is such a wonderful thing. I am an A+ member of your fan club for all that you do for all of us and I am not going to let this experience be a downer. I will just be more mindful and we all need to remember to not post player cards, full sport betting slips or full slot machine tickets as criminals get more sophisticated all the time.

Most important, here's wishing you a spectacular holiday season.

 

Ugh I hate these types of giftcards for just that reason. Always afraid someone is going to record the number, then wait for it to be purchased and use it. I almost always will just drain the generic Visa/MC giftcards as a credit to either my cell phone provider or cable right when I get them.

 

So sorry to hear about this @Flowers!
I admire your attitude in the wake of this experience, though.

Thank you for the heads-up and I wish you the best moving forward!

RICHARD

 

Only hope might be in that wherever it was used did not ship the purchases yet? I know I have had orders looked up by the actual card number at companies when I only checked out with a 'guest' account.

 

The purchases were for Cheesecake Factory, Tony Roma's and some other restaurants, which means someone may have literally made a new card rather than using the numbers to purchase something online.

I was also thinking more about gift cards that are on racks in stores. I don't want to freak folks about that. I now understand much better why a lot of gift cards come "wrapped" in a cardboard frame as you would have to rip off the packaging to see the numbers. That wrapping may be decorative but it serves a security function as well.

 

Daaaaang, that sucks to have happened I think you're taking it the best way possible... especially because having this closure is much better than being driven crazy by wondering what could have happened like your entire purse getting skimmed.

Funny, I feel like this is the thing I would have noticed. I often alert people on social media (and even here) about sensitive information being shown inadvertently in photos they've posted. That's too bad I didn't catch it, as my brain somehow manages to detect these things more often than others.

If it makes you feel any better, I don't think it was a "normal" reader of the website who did it. I feel like the sophisticated fraudsters do reverse-image searches of things like gift cards, to locate images indexed on Google that match what a gift card looks like... which they can filter based on how recently the pictures were posted, and then "try" the numbers in a given image to see if the gift card still works. Even if they have a 1/100 success rate they'd make an average of $2 per attempt if they get a $200 gift card every time on average. Considering it only takes a minute or two to fill out credit card data for an attempted purchase, it's not a bad rate of pay if you can pull it off consistently.

Hoping the forces of the universe pay this back to you with some royal flushes this weekend

 

Thanks NFC and I agree re the testing. Some of the charges were for 10 cents and 30 cents, 5 dollars, etc. like they were first testing to see if the card was valid and how much it was worth.

And I agree -- or at least did not assume -- that any VMBer did this but rather a stranger visiting the site or doing something as you indicated.

 

be careful also buying gift cards, have the clerk swipe the card in front of you to check the balance. I put down 50.00 on a card, the next day i had only half the balance. The %^&* made two 25.00 cards and kept one. Think about it, you give the card as a gift, most times you won't tell them the amount it is for. Of course it would be rude for them to ask.

 

This is actually very easy to do. It takes virtually nothing to program a magnetic strip with those numbers on it.

It's a lot easier to get away with it at chain restaurants, because the servers and cashiers are often young and/or inexperienced, and won't exactly balk at a card that looks slightly funny. What the fraudsters probably did is they went in there to buy gift cards with the $200 and $50 cards, which they'd likely be able to sell on eBay for 80% or so of the value, netting them $200 or so.

Sure beats buying something online where they'd have to give an address where they'd have to be at after they've committed the crime.

Geez, seeing that post above mentioning the gift cards on racks really gave me the heebie-jeebies.

I don't even know why stores sell physical gift cards anymore, given how they're such a common vector for fraud. It would make a lot more sense for them to print out a randomly-generated barcode after payment has been processed... and require IDs on purchases. Given everything I've seen and heard, I'd require no less if I was running a business.

 

At the rate this thread is going, gift cards will be ruined for all of us... lol

 

My daughter received a $200 visa gift card from a very close family friend in May. We tried to use it towards a computer purchase in July, but it was declined.
We called the card company (number on back is the card). They told us the steps we needed to go through for a new card:
1. Submit a claim form
2. Submit the receipt when the card was purchased. (It was bought at a local grocery store. Our friend was able to reproduce her bank statement)
3. We contacted the store and they pulled up the actual receipt/activation. Needed that too.
4. they sent us a new card 2 weeks later.

 

This is very informative and then your mentioning the heebie jeebies, and your subsequent post, cracked me up. Thanks for the levity.

 

I’m sorry this happened @Flowers; thank you for the warning. I would have thought gift cards would need the security code to be used. A very good reminder to be careful what we post. I hope whoever stole your card information receives the bad karma they deserve!!

 

Oh Flowers I am SOOOOOO sorry. We've all been there, done that on "I should have been more careful" moments, but it doesn't make that person's actions right in ANY book.

I was just in Tahoe and walked by a nicely dressed lady (didn't look rich, just well put together) , a decade or two older than me, who was surrounded by security guards, and she was standing. I hoped she had won a handpay.

Nope.

She was classy, but upset, and standing straight-backed with a firm mouth. There was a woman on the slot machine next to her, impervious, snotty expression, spinning away. I had a feeling it was shadiness versus a win, but I had hoped I was just being cynical.

I wasn't, based on what happened next.

I then overheard the security guards tell the lady that, was upset and standing, that, if she stepped off a machine and left her ticket in, that was on her basically her fault. This talk had obviously been going on awhile. (And the guards were looking back and forth at both women, so it was pretty clear who the two parties were.)

And still snotty/entitled face spun away, with the other gal's money. And she spun. And spun. And spun. No remorse, no guilt. She had hopped on with enough money in that this had been going on awhile, so probsbly minimal chance of her not knowing she had preyed on the older lady's money.

@Chuck2009x met one of these gems years ago (many reasons why he rocks, he was so classy about it, even giving her the benefit of the doubt, even though I 180% believe she was a VERY aware first-class Turd.)

Same mentality on the gift cards, justifying why it's OK stealing because someone made a mistake.

Yes, I know some can justify "well, they made the mistake of not being careful" But, when you need to justify an action, you are almost ALWAYS in the wrong. (Breaking into a house because someone forgot to lock the door? Taking money from a dropped wallet? Accountability/Honor is about doing the right thing when you think you can get away with NOT doing the right thing. Hello, kindergarten 101!)

But, you are an amazing person with a huge heart @Flowers, and all class, all the time. You might have been taken for a turn on this one, but I have FULL faith you will have something unexpectedly positive coming back your way.

 

I’ll add that we were able to see where the money was spent. Whoever accessed the funds spent it at a grocery store about 40 miles away. The day after it was purchased.
If they are truly criminals, I hope they got a bad rash and spent weeks in bed covered in boils.

But if they were having a rough go and needed food- I hope they ate well for as long as possible.

 

sending some positive vibes that you'll win the value of the stolen cards back and then some on your next vegas trip!