'Target has my money and the crook has the gift!': How victims are losing hundreds on the cruel 'gift card draining' scam

Thanks for the info. For several years now, I've been purchasing Christmas Visa/Mastercard gift cards at Walmart for both my sons, and haven't had any problems. I live in a small city in a red county. The city I live in has a low crime rate, but I'll take extra precautions this year anyway, and make sure the cards I purchase haven't been tampered with. I always keep the receipt, and give it to my kids along with the card, just in case there is a problem. I usually pay for the gift cards with a credit card, so I'm wonder if there's some protection with that as well. I tried doing a search for that online, but nothing came up.

An article I just read said listed the following directions:

1. Make sure the gift card is sealed and the protective cover and the tape covering the pin is intact.

2. Ensure the gift card does not appear to be tampered with.

3. Keep the store receipt in case the gift card you are purchasing is found to have been compromised.

4. If a purchased gift card is found to be compromised, immediately report it to the gift card company directly to request a freeze on the card and request a refund.

Gift cards were a good gift years ago

Gift cards were never a good gift. All they do is tell someone you don't care enough about them to put the thought into a real gift, and they limit the recipient to spending the money at a single place. (At least until the visa gift cards, but even then everyone still buys store-specific ones.) You and your cousin/buddy/brother/etc give each other a $50 gift card to whatever stores. Now everyone has the same $$ they had before, only some of it can only be spent at one place.

The only real use for them is something like a work Christmas party where the boss gives out random gifts or something like that.

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