10 Ways to Avoid Gift Card Fraud This Holiday Season | Irvine Real Estate – Irvine Homes & Condos

Gift cards are the most popular and requested item this holiday season, but so too are scams designed to take advantage of unsuspecting shoppers. The National Retail Federation estimates we’ll spend close to $25 billion on gift cards this year, and thieves are anxious to get a piece of the action.

Technology has made this easy. Thieves can buy a small, inexpensive handheld scanner and capture the codes embedded in the pre-loaded card before you even buy it. Once they have the code, it goes back on the rack and eventually into a shopping cart and later the hands of a gift recipient.

Some stores sell cards without a value, that’s determined and loaded at checkout. Even these types of gift cards are not immune. Thieves can copy down or scan the code, and call the 800 number on the card every few days to check the balance and redeem the card’s value online.

Stripped gift cards are not the norm, the majority of shoppers will never encounter it, but avoid being a victim — and disappointing someone with a crummy gift — this holiday. Follow these tips when buying gift cards and give wisely.

Check out this article and see the 10 ways to avoid gift card fraud this year! Gift cards are the most popular gift for the holidays, so make sure you don’t get scammed if you are purchasing gift cards!