Gift Card Resell Scams

A perfectly legal, convenient service could be a scammer in disguise.

Who Is It Targeting: Gift card holders

What Is It: Scam that steals information off your existing gift cards

What Are They After: The FBI has issued a warning about gift card resale scams. First, it’s perfectly legal to find an online marketplace to sell some of those gift cards you might not have wanted but received as presents. However, scammers may be lying in wait to trick you into turning over the funds before their payment actually goes through.

How Can You Avoid It:

• Never supply the PIN number to a card until the transaction is complete.
• Consider using an online payment portal that will hold one person’s money until the final transaction goes through.
• Remember, many stores will now let you use their gift card to buy a different gift card, so you can avoid the resale by spending your card on something you actually do need.

If you think you may be a victim of identity theft, contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for toll-free, no-cost assistance at (888) 400-5530. Find more information about current scams and alerts here. For full details of this scam check out this article from CNC.com.