Gift Card Scams: How to Spot Them Before You Get Hooked

Frank Bravo 0:00
This past weekend, my wife and I were at target picking up a few things when a cashier handed me a bright red flier. In big, bold letters that said, beware of gift card scams. I smiled, thinking, yeah, I've seen those. And then I remembered that my neighbor actually fell for one of those scams just a few weeks ago. It hit me at that point that it's a perfect time to drop in with a special episode on this podcast and talk about how people are affected by these scams.

Guest 0:33
Welcome to your Tech Makeover, the podcast that gives you tips and tricks to help you simplify and get more out of the technology in your life. I'm your host, Frank Bravo.

Frank Bravo 0:41
Today's episode is a little different, and it's not one of our regular every other Tuesday episodes. I wanted to drop this special episode into the feed because it's important, especially this time of year with the holidays coming up. Scammers love this time of year, and one of the biggest tricks they use is convincing people to pay for something they don't really know with gift cards. So let's talk about how these scams work, how to spot them, and what you can do if it happens to you or someone you care about. So here's the basic setup. You get a phone call, maybe it's an email or a text or a person on the other end just sounds really official. And they're saying they're from the IRS, your utility company, or maybe they're a tech support agent from Microsoft or Apple. Sometimes it's even someone pretending to be a relative. These are the so-called grandparent scams that I'm sure you've heard about. They tell you about something urgent, like you owe a fee, you missed a payment, or there's a problem with your account, or they've refunded you too much money. The message is always the same. You have to fix it right now. And here's the key move. They tell you that the quickest way to pay is by buying a gift card from, say, target, Apple, maybe Google Pay or whatever, and then reading them the numbers from the card or sending them a photo. And that will allow you to pay off your bill if that ever happens to you. Stop right there. Nobody legit is going to want to be paid this way. The moment that you can say, you know, nice try and then hang up your phone, because that's at the point that every single one of these scams gives it away. So what's the real reason why they push the gift cards? Well, the real reason is that it's almost untraceable once they've shared the number. If you are handing over cash, it's just like giving out a gift card, a number. You can't call the bank. You can't call the credit card company to reverse it. And these folks are so good at what they do that they train to make you panic so that it makes you act before you think they're not there. They're telling you, don't hang up. They're saying this is super urgent and that has to be secret. And don't tell anyone that you're in trouble. The social engineering is at its best when these kind of scams happen, using pressure and fear to make you forget common sense for just long enough to hand over those codes.

Guest 2:58
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Frank Bravo 3:19
Thanks for being part of the Your Tech Makeover community. Now back to what I was saying. So let me tell you about my neighbor. My neighbor got a call saying that one of their bills was past due, and if they didn't pay right away that their services would be cut off. The caller asked if they had any gift cards lying around the house that they could use, and when they said no, they directed them to go down to the local drugstore by two $500 cards to make an immediate payment before the disconnect order went through. And they did because it sounded so professional. But of course, once they gave the scammer the number, the money was gone. But and that's when they called me. I told them what I'm telling you now. No company will ever ask for payment with gift cards. It's a scam and it's a painful lesson, but one worth sharing and I encourage people to share it if they've been involved with one of these scams. Because it's easy to fall for when you're stressed or caught off guard. Two things that the scammers really do well. So let's run through some of the quick red flags to watch for. And maybe you could share this with your parents or grandparents or friends, even if you think they're not at risk. The more people that know about these things and know what to look out for, the less likely people will be scammed in this way. First off, like I said, no one's asking for payment and gift cards ever. This is a scam, almost always urgent and threatening tones like you'll be arrested. Your service will be cut off. You'll lose access to your account. Those are all things that are part of these scams, and they really go towards making you feel like it's super urgent. They also encourage you to be secret. Don't tell anyone about this because they don't want people to think about it and give you time in order to to stop this process. You know, there might be a weird payment methods like buying a dollar amount in a particular amount for a gift card, sending the pictures of the card to them, and scratching off the code so that they can do it. That all sounds really weird, and you shouldn't do that and they won't let you hang up. This is very important. A lot of times, and in the case of my neighbor, they want you to stay on the line so that you don't have an opportunity to call back or to verify independently. If you hear about any of these kind of things on the phone, it's a scam. There's no exception. I joked with my friend the other day that if the IRS is suddenly taking target gift cards, then the country has some big problems. So what do you do if it happens to you? If you ever get one of these calls or messages, the thing is to think and follow these three simple steps to help protect yourself. Step one stop and take a breath. Really listen to what the person on the other end is saying. Scammers rely on the urgency of the moment. If you slow down and take away their power, you'll think about it and realize that this is a scam. Step two verify it yourself. Tell them that you need to hang up and look for the company's real number to call back or ask a friend, and if it just doesn't seem right, you know, make sure you stop them at that point and don't ever call back on the number they contacted you. That is for sure a way to get back to the scammers. And then step three is to report it. If you've already bought the gift cards, keep your receipt and contact the company that issued those gift cards right away. A lot of times, or at least some of the time, the companies will take those numbers and they can identify the card itself from the receipt. There's a slim window and a slim chance where sometimes they can freeze the funds. And if it makes you feel better, you can always report the scam to the FTC. You can go to report fraud dot, FTC gov or call 1877. See help. It'll help the investigators track down these operations, but they change their information so quickly that they're really super hard to catch. So don't spend a lot of time trying to report it. You can also tell the store where you bought the card. Some retailers have trained employees who can intervene and spot someone buying large amounts of gift cards who are under pressure. But by far the best thing you can do, especially for the holidays, is to talk with people about this. Tell people in your life that you've gotten this call or a message asking you to pay for a gift card. You hang up, or maybe call me and let me know what's going on and I can help you through this. Just a quick gut check can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars. And if you think you're not going to remember it at that moment, you can even write a sticky note and put it near your phone. Something like a gift. Cards are never payment. Hang up and call blank whoever that blank might be in your life. If you're a small business owner or a manager, remind your employees of this too. A lot of scams start with a fake boss email. I've gotten those where my boss says, you need to help me transfer this money from this account to that account, and it asks for your assistance sometimes to even buy cards for the company's giveaway or a charity drive. So here's the takeaway if anyone I mean anyone, asks you to pay for a service with a gift card, it's probably a scam. I'd like to say there's no exceptions, but for the most part, there's no exceptions. Remember, IRS doesn't take gift cards from Apple. Your power company is not going to take a Lululemon card, and no tech support person on the phone should ever ask for Google Play cards as payment. This time of year, people are busy, distracted, and generous, which means scammers are busy. So share this with somebody you care about. Help them spot the warning signs before they get that call or text. The only way these scams are going to stop is if people stop falling for them. Until then, we all need to be vigilant and do our best to watch out for them. So have you ever gotten one of these urgent messages asking you to pay with the gift card? If so, let me know. And as always, if you have ideas for topics you'd like me to cover, please feel free to contact me at email at Frank at your tech makeover. Com. That's it for now. Thanks for listening to the special episode of your Tech Makeover. If you haven't already. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform so that you don't miss an episode. You can also check out your tech makeover. Com. That's where you'll see more information about each episode in different ways to listen. And if you want to find out more about me, please visit Bravo. It's until next time. I'm Frank Bravo, and this has been your tech makeover.