Gift Cards Are for Gifts: How to Spot Gift Card Scams and Drained Cards

Short answer: If anyone tells you to pay a bill, a fine, a fee, or a computer "repair" with a gift card, it's a scam. The FTC puts it plainly: gift cards are for gifts, not payments. When you buy gift cards as presents, check the package for tampering and keep your receipt. And if you already read the numbers off the back to someone, call the company that issued the card right away. Speed matters.

Gift cards are an easy present to grab at a store in The Dalles, Hood River or White Salmon, or to order online for family who live far away. That convenience is exactly why scammers like them. Gift card money is hard to trace and hard to get back once it's spent. There are two different problems to watch for: someone pressuring you to pay with gift cards, and cards that get tampered with on the rack before you even buy them.

Problem 1: Someone wants to be paid in gift cards

This scam starts with a call, text, email, pop-up or social media message. The person pretends to be someone you trust and says there's an urgent problem. Common versions include:

• A "tech support" pop-up or caller says your computer is infected and you have to pay to fix it. (See The Fake Tech Support Trap.)
• Someone claiming to be from a government agency, the court, or a utility says you owe money and must pay today to avoid arrest or a shutoff.
• A relative or friend in trouble, or your "boss" in an email or text, asks you to buy cards quickly and quietly.
• Someone says you won a prize but must pay a fee first.

The tell is always the same. They tell you which card to buy and where, they may stay on the phone while you go to the store, and they ask you to read or photograph the card number and PIN on the back. In an FTC consumer video, the agency says anyone who tells you to pay with a gift card is a scammer, and once you've shared the number and PIN, your money is probably gone. The Oregon Department of Justice gives the same warning: government agencies and reputable companies will never demand payment by gift card, and demands for immediate action or secrecy are red flags.

What to do: hang up or close the message. Don't call back a number that was given to you. If you're worried the problem might be real, look up the company or agency yourself, using a bill, the back of your bank card, or an official website you type in yourself, and contact them that way.

Problem 2: The card was tampered with before you bought it

This one catches careful shoppers. According to Homeland Security Investigations, criminals take cards off store racks, record the card number and PIN, reseal the package and put it back. When someone buys the card and money is loaded onto it, the criminals drain it, often quickly. The Better Business Bureau also describes thieves sticking a fake barcode over the real one, so the money you pay at the register goes onto a card the scammer controls.

Before you buy a card off the rack:

• Look for tears, cuts, wrinkles or loose edges on the package, and a pull tab that looks like it was cut and laid back down.
• Check the PIN area. If the scratch-off or cover is missing, scratched, wrinkled or not smooth, pick a different card.
• Run your finger over the barcode. A sticker on top of the real barcode is a warning sign.
• Compare it with other cards of the same brand on the rack. If the packaging looks different, skip it.
• If anything looks off, take another card and hand the suspicious one to the customer service desk.

HSI notes that a tampered card may show no visible signs at all, so these checks lower the risk but don't remove it. Other habits help too:

• Keep the receipt and a photo of the card's front and back until the gift is used. If something goes wrong, the card company will ask for them.
• Ask the cashier to confirm the card is activated with the right amount before you leave, if the store can do that.
• Buying an electronic gift card straight from the retailer's own website or app avoids the store rack. Watch out for "discount" gift card offers in ads or on unfamiliar sites, though. (See Found a Great Deal in a Facebook Ad?)
• If the brand lets you register the card or add it to an account, doing so can make it easier to report a problem.
• Encourage the person who gets the card to use it reasonably soon rather than leaving the balance sitting for months.

Be careful with "balance checker" websites

The BBB warns that some websites claiming to check gift card balances are really there to collect your card number and PIN, which is all a thief needs. Check a balance only through the official site or phone number printed on the card or its packaging. Type the web address yourself instead of clicking a search ad or a link in a text.

If you already paid or shared the numbers

Don't let embarrassment slow you down. These scams fool careful people every day. In a 2023 consumer post, an FTC consumer education specialist wrote that some gift card companies can flag fraud and freeze money the scammer hasn't used yet, and that the faster you report it, the better your chance of getting it back. Recovery isn't guaranteed, but it's worth trying.

• 1. Call the company that issued the gift card, using the number on the card or its packaging. Tell them it was used in a scam, give them the card number and receipt details, and ask whether the money can be frozen or refunded.
• 2. If you paid for the cards with a credit or debit card, call that bank or card company too and explain what happened.
• 3. Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• 4. Report it to your state. In Oregon, use the Oregon DOJ consumer complaint page or call the Consumer Hotline at 1-877-877-9392 (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). On the Washington side of the Gorge, use the Washington Attorney General's complaint page or call 1-800-551-4636 (in Washington only).
• 5. If the scam started with a "tech support" call and you let someone into your computer, read What to Do If You Click a Suspicious Link and change passwords from a different, trusted device.

One more warning: people who lose money are sometimes contacted again by someone offering to "recover" it for a fee. That's another scam. Real recovery goes through the card company, your bank and the agencies above.

Share the one rule with family

The easiest protection is a single sentence you can pass along to parents, grandparents and teenagers before the holidays: "No real business, agency or tech support company will ever ask you to pay with a gift card. If someone does, hang up and call me."

Sources and Further Reading

• Federal Trade Commission: Report Gift Cards Used in a Scam (video)
• FTC: ReportFraud.ftc.gov
• Oregon Department of Justice: Attorney General encourages reporting of gift card fraud and Report Scams and Fraud
• Washington State Attorney General: File a Complaint
• U.S. Homeland Security Investigations: Tackling the Rise in Gift Card Fraud
• Better Business Bureau: What to know before purchasing a gift card