The 12 Days of Holiday Fraud – Day 6: Gift Cards

Today, we present Day 6 of The 12 Days of Holiday Fraud - our version of the holiday classic The 12 Days of Christmas. We’re warning about the top 12 scams we see leading up to the holidays and how to avoid falling victim to fraudsters.

“On the sixth day of the holidays, my scammer targeted me with . . .”

DAY 6: Gift Cards

Everyone likes to get gift cards and they make gifting easy as well. They allow the recipient to buy exactly what they want (and often from the comfort of their own home) and the giver of the gift card doesn’t have to worry about buying the wrong color, size, etc.

As much as we like gift cards, fraudster’s love them as a favorite form of currency. That is because, if purchased with cash, a gift card can’t be traced, and unlike forms of cryptocurrencies fraudsters like to use, gift cards can be purchased easily and almost anywhere.

Holiday Tips

• Beware of gift cards to popular retailers offered at a steep discount. If the deal seems too good to be true, it usually is. The gift card may not be legit, or if it is an actual gift card, it might be stolen or have had some of the funds on the card already used.
• If you’re going to buy a gift card online, buy it directly from that company’s web site. Example: Buy an Amazon gift card on Amazon.com, not from a web site that sells gift cards to various companies.

Stay tuned for 12 Days of Holiday Fraud – Day 7.

Check out Day 1: Secret Sister Gift Exchange.

Check out Day 2: Requests for Charitable Gifts.

Check out Day 3: Secret Santa Shopper.

Check out Day 4: Fake Holiday Marketplaces.

Check out Day 5: Package Delivery.

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