She bought $2,000 worth of Vanilla Visa gift cards at a CVS in New York City only to discover that three of the cards had scuff marks in the spot where the security code is meant to be and that ...

Gift card buyers and users need to be especially vigilant about this type of scam, said Christopher Peltz, cyber security expert with Guidepoint Security. “So far, card draining is the most ...

In 2025, online scams have reached alarming levels, with losses of more than $12.5 billion in 2024. A new threat looms over Amazon Prime customers, who should be on the lookout for fraudulent emails ...

Gift cards can be tampered with at the store, she said, by crooks who grab stacks of cards, remove the security tape from each gift card, and then take photos or write down the card’s secret 16 ...

Four fraud victims who were tricked by con artists into buying Target gift cards as part of scams allege the retailer is ...

The Federal Trade Commission saw more gift card scam reports in the first nine months of 2021 ... As soon as you provide the gift card number and any sort of security code that’s present on ...

Americans love giving and receiving gift cards: Sales are projected to reach $308 billion in 2024, according to Javelin Strategy & Research, a company that tracks the industry, up from $124 ...

Understanding Gift Card Fraud. The gift card industry has become a prime target for fraud for several reasons. For one, it’s booming: billions are being spent on gift cards each year, and they ...

A gift card’s activation code is scanned at the point of sale to turn on the card and load its cash balance. It’s different from a redemption code, PIN or CVV, which are used when a customer ...