Shopper's warning over gift card draining scam

Gift cards have a code which should remain hidden until cashed it in, but scammers have been accessing and recording them

A shopper is warning others to be careful after his mother bought a gift card that turned out to be fake.

Jake Eden said she put £30 on an Amazon card at a Tesco in Nottinghamshire as a gift for a family friend but when they went to spend it, the code was invalid.

Mr Eden discovered the card inside the holder had been tampered with and he believes it was replaced with a forged version - meaning money could still be loaded on to it but this could only be spent by the person with the original card.

A Tesco spokesperson said they were sorry to hear of his experience and told the BBC cards that had been tampered with "represent a very small proportion" of sales.

Action Fraud said shoppers should always "stop, think, and check" before buying a gift card online or in store.

Mr Eden, 28, said he only realised the problem when he compared the card he bought to ones in the store.

"As far as we're aware, someone has gone in, taken the card out, forged it and put it back on the shelves in Tesco," he said. "So when you go to buy it, you get stung.

"It's annoying that you go to a shop and you can be subject to this type of scam."

He added Tesco had since given a refund and replaced the cards in the store that had been tampered with.

Consumer rights expert Martyn James said this was a growing problem

Consumer rights expert Martyn James said more and more people were being caught out by gift card scams.

He explained there is a code in gift cards, which should remain hidden until the intended giftee uses them.

Sometimes it is hidden by foil, sometimes the card needs to be ripped opened to access it.

Another method used by scammers is to go into the shop and gain access to the code on the gift card, record the number and put the compromised card back.

They then wait for the card to be activated or to have money put on and drain it as soon as they can, often well before the recipient would think to use it.

Action Fraud said there were 6,229 reports of gift card fraud in 2023, the latest figures available.

In that year, people lost about £13.4m to this type of fraud.

"Fraudsters can catch victims out when they least expect it," a spokesperson said.

"Always stop, think, and check before you purchase a gift card online or in store."

How can customers protect themselves?

Mr James's advice for shoppers was "to assume the worst".

"Look for signs of tampering, keep the receipt, and say to the recipient as soon as you get it, log in, check it's online and do spend it as soon as you can," he said.

He added one simple solution would be for supermarkets to keep the cards behind the counter, but supermarkets do not do this, because they want it to be an impulse purchase.

Hannah Shimko, managing director of the Gift Card and Voucher Association, said it was "working hard to stay ahead of fraudsters" with better packaging, training, technology and monitoring.

"We are working with retailers, issuers, and operators to share intelligence, strengthen security, and ensure that gift cards remain a safe, convenient and popular way to gift," she added.