Protecting Yourself from Gift Card Scams

Gift Cards are a popular form of payment requested by scammers, so it’s worth being extra careful if someone you don’t know offers to pay you for buying a gift card in any context. Scammers use different tactics to get victims to fall for their schemes.³ In some cases, they can be friendly, sympathetic and seem willing to help. In others, they use fear tactics to persuade a victim. Typically, scammers disguise themselves as a reputable company or family member and request payment in the form of gift cards.³

Important:

Neither the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) nor any other government agency will ever request payment over the phone in the form of a gift card. These agencies have said so in their own warnings against scammers.^3,4

Being aware of the following facts and ways of dealing with possible fraudulent situations can help you avoid falling for a gift card scam:

• Legitimate sales and transactions shouldn’t require you to pay specifically with a gift card.³
• It’s not a good idea to share a gift card number or PIN over the phone or online unless you’re interacting with someone you know well and trust.^3,5
• Don’t always trust caller ID. Scammers can manipulate a caller ID to look like a legitimate company or government agency.⁶
• Don’t give out personally identifiable information unless you’re certain the person and reason are legitimate. That certainty usually isn’t possible unless you’ve called the company or agency using official, publicly available contact information.⁷
• Research and validate. If the individual or organization seems suspicious, be sure the request being made is legitimate by calling the organization through an official number from its website or checking with your family member or friend if you suspect someone is impersonating them.^3,7

If you think you’ve been the victim of a gift card scam, report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov.

The most common types of scams will target you through fake emails, text messages, voice calls, letters, or even someone who shows up at your front door unexpectedly.^8,9 No matter which technique the scammer uses, you may be:

• Pressured to purchase American Express or other merchant gift cards.³
• Threatened with law enforcement action.^6,10
• Told to purchase gift cards and provide codes as a form of payment.³

Common scams include requests related to lotteries, taxes, a new job, and helping someone in need.⁸ The sophistication of some gift card scams may be surprising. Here are details of four popular gift card scams:

• Boss scam: In this scam, the fraudster poses as a senior manager in your company, requesting that you purchase gift cards and send them the cards’ codes.¹¹
• Secret shopper scam: The scammer pretends to represent a major corporation that wants to hire you as a secret shopper. They send a check for you to use to purchase gift cards, keep a portion as your “pay,” and send back codes for the rest. But the check bounces after you’ve done so.¹²
• IRS scam: A scammer impersonating an IRS agent tells you your identity was stolen and asks you to buy gift cards using different accounts to help them identify the culprits.⁴
• Tech support scam: The scammer sends an email that appears to lock up your computer or mobile device, then follows up by calling and pretending to be a tech support person stepping in to help – for a price.³