Gift Card Fraud Prevention

Gift Card Fraud

Gift card fraud is growing rapidly and its impacts are felt globally. Perpetrators range from individuals looking to make quick money to large, organized retail crime rings using the profits for illegal drug production and distribution, illegal migration, and human trafficking. Industry experts estimate losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

For more information on the growth of gift card fraud and the organizations helping to fight it, visit Tackling Gift Card Fraud.

Target Gift Card Scam Prevention Tips

Target Gift Card Protection Tips

• Do not purchase, sell or check your gift card balance outside of Target.com.
• Only check your balance on the Target site at https://www.target.com/guest/gift-card-balance.
• Do not purchase a gift card if it appears that the packaging has been altered or manipulated. If you have questions about a gift card, ask a Target team member for assistance.
• If you get a call from a stranger who says that a loved one is in trouble and they ask you to provide gift card numbers to help them, hang up and contact your loved one directly.

Gift Card Tampering

Gift card tampering, also known as gift card draining, requires fraudulent actors to physically remove un-activated gift cards from retail stores, manipulate the packaging to expose the gift card number and access code, record the information before resealing the gift cards and returning them to the retailer. Once a customer loads the gift card is loaded, the fraudulent actor will attempt to spend the money before the customer is aware of an issue.

Tips to Identify a Tampered Gift Card:

• Torn or cut edges on the packaging
• Excessive glues residue
• Tears or stretching on holograms or stickers

Gift Card Harvesters

Harvesters are scammers who collect gift card numbers and access codes while posing as a legitimate source for a guest to check their balance. Only check your balance on the target site at https://www.target.com/guest/gift-card-balance

Victim Assisted Fraud Scams

Victim assisted fraud occurs when a fraudulent actor leverages social engineering to trick an individual into purchasing large dollar amounts of gift cards as a form of payment to prevent “something bad from happening”. The fraudulent actor acts with a strong sense of urgency and fast talking to prevent the victim from having a minute to think about what is happening. They may claim that a loved one is in trouble or they are from the government and failure to pay will result in jail time. Others use the disguise of tech support to remote into the victim’s computer and install ransomware or their utility company who plans to cut off service if not paid immediately.

If you receive a call from a stranger asking you to purchase gift cards or to access your personal devices, hang up and report the call to local law enforcement.

For more information on gift card scams and additional actions you can take, visit Avoiding and Reporting Gift Card Scams.