Action Fraud warns shoppers to stay tuned to fraud as £6.5 million is lost to gift card fraud

Gift Cards To Avoid Detection Of Transaction Details

During the holiday season, gift card sales increase, mainly as they provide an easy payment gateway for gifts to family members. Such cards offer an alternative means of transaction even to criminals who can turn merchandise into money by selling the cards. 

The criminals use and abuse its balance-checking facility, which has also been linked with privacy hacks. Such systems do not use a centralised clearing or database, and merchants often individually redeem their value. The firm that offers it should monitor how they are activated and used at the individual store terminal to track the transaction. 

Credit cards are safer than gift cards because the data is centralised, and the bank/ firm authorises and protects each transaction. 

How Does It Happen?

The scammers present gift cards for the popular online eCommerce site, and they send messages from the site's address, claiming to be sent by a firm like Adidas, Amazon or others. The users are asked to visit an unknown website to claim the prizes they won while shopping online. 

They may be asked to fill in a survey form to fill in the details of products they wish to buy from the site. The website presents multiple testimonials and reviews of people who bought their products or won an award. 

They sell iTunes and request the buyer to get Steam cards to get upfront fees. The aim is to allocate awards to get the user's device's browser and system data information and encourage them to share personal or account details.  

Over 11K fraud reports related to iTunes gift cards were reported between April 2015 and March 2018. Some websites involved in such schemes were Adidas store, Tata Samsung, Oovip and others.

How To Spot It?

You can note that messages sent from such platforms have multiple grammatical errors. The police found such scammers targeted society's most vulnerable people, and they used all forms of tricks to gain access to their money. 

The scammers can be confident and appear authentic and reliable. They talk to you as if they know everything about the markets, your name, bank, or address. They speak as if they already know everything but are confirming. 

For example, the victim is asked to buy iTunes cards from a nearby supermarket to pay for the missed tax bills. In one such incident, the caller asked the client not to divulge any details about the call to anyone. 

They asked for the numbers on the back of the card that the victim could not see clearly, giving incorrect numbers. The caller was annoyed when he got incorrect numbers and recalled to know the exact number. 

Later, the victim's close relative took over and asked the salesperson on the phone not to call back. The authorities have been working to empower the supermarket staff to raise public awareness. 

The regulatory agencies have been working on getting retailers' support and raising awareness about such crimes. Apple has also been working with retailers and government bodies to display guidance and signage to its authorised stores, providing advice with their support page. 

How To Protect Yourself?

• It would be best to be cautious of the messages on social media platforms offering prizes or huge discounts on certain popular products. 

• Furthermore, it would be best to be careful before clicking on any link in messages on social media sites from unrecognised sources and not download apps or attachments from such platforms. 

• Always ask questions about the request to buy a card and decline to provide details related to your bank or personal accounts to any unsolicited caller.

• Do not provide the number on the back of the card to an unknown caller. No regulated firm allows the bills to be paid through gift vouchers, and if you are contacted by someone who seeks to get your favour in paying bills through cards, it is likely to be a scam.