Watch out for this sneaky gift card scam

If you’re looking for a gift, you might think about buying gift cards from the grocery store. However, you should be careful with these cards. People in Colorado Springs have reported buying gift cards from stores like Walmart and then finding out the cards had no money left on them soon after they bought them.

One person said they took their gift cards home, scratched off the codes, and checked them on their Amazon account. The website said the cards were already used by someone else. This person lost $850 they were going to spend on Amazon.

Gift cards can be hacked. Scammers might take a card that hasn’t been activated yet, scratch it to get the PIN, and then cover it back up. They wait for the card to be activated and then quickly use the money on the card.

A few months ago, a security expert told Wired that some smart scammers use technology to guess the numbers on gift cards that don’t have PINs. These scammers know that some stores’ gift cards only change by a few digits between them. They use this tech to check many numbers on the store’s website to see if they can find a card with money on it.

Gift card scammers target many people

Gift card scams have cost people $74 million, the Federal Trade Commission says. With Christmas coming, scammers are very active because they know many people will be buying gift cards from grocery stores.

To avoid getting scammed when you buy a gift card, do a few simple things: Before you leave the store, make sure the card hasn’t been tampered with—check if the label covering the PIN is missing or looks different from others. Always keep your receipt just in case.

The Los Angeles Times suggests that you should buy gift cards online if you can. This can give you more security than buying them in stores. If you have to buy a gift card in a store, try to pick one from the back of the rack or ask for one from behind the counter. These are less likely to have been tampered with.

Also, remember that some gift cards are more likely to be hacked than others. For example, a $5 Starbucks card might be safer than a $250 Best Buy card.

If a scammer does trick you, contact the retailer right away. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has contact numbers for many stores’ customer support in case of fraud. Sometimes, if you act fast, you might even get your money back.