Posted on 12/18/2019 12:57:56 AM PST by Leaning Right
The Grinch apparently isn't the only one looking to steal Christmas.
Police in Florida are warning holiday shoppers this week that scammers have been placing fake barcodes on gift cards at stores.
“Scammers are printing out their own barcodes and placing them over the actual gift card barcode at local retailers,” the Boca Raton Police Department wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When the card is activated, the money is added to the scammer’s card instead of the card being purchased.”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Thieves gotta eat, too.
As devious as I like to think I can be, and as wary of scams in general as I have always been, I’d have never thought of a scheme like this.
Thanks for the heads up.
So if the card has the scammers bar code. Wouldnt the person who gets the card being using the scammers card? It is a race to spend the cash the fastest.
Think there would be an opportunity to scam the scammer.
So if the card has the scammers bar code. Wouldnt the person who gets the card being using the scammers card? It is a race to spend the cash the fastest.
Think there would be an opportunity to scam the scammer.
Only in principle.
In practice, there is usually a delay between buying the card and gifting it. The scammer likely draws down the balance before say Christmas Eve.
Nope. Scammers have staff sitting at computers ready to remove funds from card as soon as it is loaded. Right then...
Gift cash. Pay in cash.
Totally agree, less chance that it will be misplaced as well.
Not how it works. The fake barcode is scanned by the store when the gift card is purchased which also automatically loads the amount onto the card. But of course the fake barcode is for a different gift card which is loaded instead of the one in the purchaser’s possession.
And because it’s a gift sitting under the tree, this may not be discovered until next week.
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