If you buy Gift Cards from a display rack at the checkout that has these gift cards displayed you may become a victim of theft. Crooks are now jotting down the card numbers in the store and then wait a few days and call to see how much of a balance THEY have on the card. Once they find the card is "activated", and then they go online and start shopping. You may want to purchase your card from a customer service person, where they do not have the Gift Cards viewable to the public.

These thieves just never give up.

Lets be careful out there.

 

Good point Geico. I sell gift cards for a living, and what I can tell you is that if the cards have a pin # panel as well as the card number you should be fine-as long as the pin number is still covered. Most cards have a scratch off to reveal the pin. Without it, you can't do much with the cards. Mostly Target is being "targeted" because they sell so many cards at a usually higher balance. Gift cards are a great idea for gifts though, so please don't avoid them, just be careful. My family will thank you.

 

Sounds like Gieco is just being paranoid. I could be wrong though

 

all the cards I have used have a 3 or 4 digit number on the back that has to be scratched off when used.

 

Unfortunately, he's not. There is always someone trying to make a quick buck. It just isn't ever as bad as the media makes it out to be. You might also hear how 5-10% of gift cards never get used. Not necessarily true. . . 5-10% of the VALUE of gift cards doesn't get used. That depends on what the card is for though. Restaurant cards that have a balance that covers the whole meal and then some generally don't get used again. That usually means on a $10 card, the receiver doesn't use less than a buck. Usually if someone has a card with a few cents left on it they don't want to mess with it.

There you go. Pin numbers.

Couple of other pieces of advice. Buy cards from the registers, not from racks in the middle of stores, etc. Most crooks won't take the time to write down a 16-19 digit card number in front of a clerk, but they will if no one is around. Also, you can usually send virtual cards to folks from websites. That way you only have to worry about someone hacking your email.

Oh, and if you want to be smart, avoid the Visa/Mastercard gift cards, unless you have thoroughly read the terms and conditions. They make their money by charging all kinds of fees unless you use the card in x days.

 

Pin numbers usually only have to be used when the card is used online, not in person (?)

 

True, but this gig is for people that steal the card numbers and then wait until someone legitimately buys them to use the funds. Most retailers won't let you just tell them a card number if you walk into their store, you have to have the real thing.

 

I don't know how smart these people are, but they could steal an empty card or buy one with like $1 on it, and then reprogram it with the other number. Just throwing ideas out there.

 

That's been done too, but mostly with credit cards. The people doing this aren't that high tech. As with any kind of security there is always a way around it. Just be aware and careful.