Gift cards can be convenient to give and
fun to receive, making them a popular
form of gift giving for people everywhere.
Unfortunately, some gift card recipients
will find their card drained of funds
before they even have a chance to use it.
Schools first Federal Credit Union is
here to talk about how to avoid the
growing problem of gift card fraud.
Joining us today is Fruitridge
branch manager. We have Tamara.
With some helpful tips.
Hey, Tamara. Hi, Desiree.
So, gift card fraud. First off,
I didn't even know that this was a thing,
so I'm already being enlightened today.
Many of us, like I was saying,
we don't realize it.
So how can thieves steal money from a car
that you still have in your possession?
I know, it's pretty incredible
to think about, right?
You have that card.
It seems like it should be safe.
But anytime there's money
that exchanged hands,
it really does open us up to fraud.
So one method that is used is thieves will
take gift cards off of the gift card rack.
They will then remove the security tape.
That's over kind of the.
Information.
Record that information and place
that tape back over.
Put the card back on the rack,
and then track that card through
technology that tells them when
that card is activated so that
they can then drain the funds
before you have a chance to use it.
Wow. So people have gotten very
crafty in ways that they can do this.
So give card thieves can actually write
code in order to steal balances in the
believe it or not, yes,
they write code to steal the balances.
They also use that technology to sell
that gift card information to others.
And it actually happens a lot
more frequently than you would.
According to a recent study,
26% of gift gift card recipients have
said they have experience getting
a card without any money on it,
which is most likely part of this scheme.
So it does happen.
Yeah, it happened to me.
OK, so you're like,
you can speak the truth.
This has happened. OK?
And I mean, we're talking about,
I mean gift cards,
they're so convenient to give.
So if I still want to buy one as a gift,
how can I make sure the
funds aren't being stolen?
So one of the most important things
you can do is if you are buying from
a large rack at a grocery store,
inspect that card, does the security tape.
Look like it's been kind
of tampered with at all.
If it shows a barcode,
does the packaging look like it's been
opened or moved around so you can
see some of the important details?
If that's the case, don't buy the gift card.
Report that to the store that you're at.
And another really great method is to buy
your gift cards directly from the retailer.
That way you're not, you know,
potentially pulling from Iraq that may
have had this type of fraud happen.
OK, see, I'm one of those people.
I tend to get the things in
the back of their grocery.
So maybe with the gift cards,
I'll reach for the ones in the back part.
So what are some other
kinds of gift card fraud?
And what can recipients do to
protect their gifted funds? I think
the most important thing a recipient
of a gift card can do to protect their
funds is to use it as soon as possible.
So don't hold on to that
gift card for too long.
Not only does it open the opportunity
to lose the card altogether,
but it also that time that you wait to use
it gives thieves time to pull your funds.
So make sure you do that.
If you have a card that
needs to be activated,
don't activate it until you're
ready to use it again.
There's that time piece that it gives
thieves a lot less time to potentially
steal those funds before you use them.
Another type of gift card fraud.
Which we actually see quite often
is when businesses or somebody
claiming to you is to be a business,
will ask you to pay using a gift card.
So I think it's very important for
people to remember no legitimate
business or government agency
is going to have you pay for
a balance with a gift card.
I like that you mentioned too.
If you plan to activate it,
use it sooner rather than later because
I have a collection of gift cards in my
wallet that I've kind of forgotten about.
So it's important to use those instead
of saving them for a rainy day.
They're given as a gift.
So use them, use them,
treat yourself, treat yourself.
There we go. We like that.
If someone becomes a
victim of gift card fraud,
is there anything they can do
to recover their funds? Yes.
So there are you want to reach
out to the retailer right away.
And so that's the person who
issued the card, the card issuer.
So if you purchase a
Starbucks card at a Safeway,
you want to reach out to Starbucks,
not to to Safeway because they're not
going to be able to do anything for you.
Contact them as soon as possible.
A really great thing to do when
you receive a gift card is to
check the balance right away to
make sure there's a balance on it.
That way, if there isn't,
you can kind of start that process.
There are some limitations
on getting your funds back.
So the better paper trail that you have,
the better your chances are going to be.
That's also why we say use
it as soon as possible.
Check your balance as soon as possible,
because there's also a time limitation on
when you can receive those funds back,
right? So that gift card I've had
for like a year from last Christmas,
Mimi, maybe not so much.
Check the balance.
I'm sure it's still there. Still there.
Any final things to consider, Tamara?
You know, gift cards,
as we talked about,
is a really convenient way to gift
things that seems a little bit
more thoughtful than just handing
somebody an envelope with cash,
but there are some really great.
Is that you wanna gift cash?
So if you wanna stay away
from gift cards altogether,
a quick search on Pinterest
will show you some really fun
and creative ways to give cash.
I use it with my children all the time,
and they have so much fun
unwrapping cash in different ways.
So yes. And then, of course,
always visit our website,
schoolsfirstfcu.org for these tips and
more financial Wellness information.
OK, perfect. And there's multiple
branch locations that our viewers
can visit to if they'd like to.
Absolutely. We're always happy to
have members come in and talk to us.
Alright, Tara, always a pleasure.
And thanks for helping us to be,
you know, not fall.
Ask them to gift card fraud.
I think he doesn't, of course.
And like she mentioned,
for more financial Wellness tips, visit
schoolsfirstfcu.org.