Would you ever dream of buying a beautiful gift, maybe a cashmere sweater or a diamond necklace, and have it gift wrapped at the store, only to watch your special someone open the box and discover it was empty?
Unfortunately, that’s what’s happening too often during the holidays and other times of the year for those who hand over gift cards. It’s another way that criminals who run elaborate fraud rings to steal dollars from consumers.
Who would imagine that a gift card that you just received suddenly had little or no value? How could a gift card have been redeemed when it was sitting inside a holiday card or little gift card tin covered with bouncy penguins?
About 26% of people reported being surprised to learn that they gave away or received a gift card with a zero balance, zip, not a dollar left on it, according to an AARP survey. That’s up from 21% from a similar survey last year.
While most gift cards work fine, some consumers are astounded when they go out to dinner or try to buy a new pair of running shoes only to see their gift card declined because of a zero balance after crooks mysteriously drained money off the card.
How one gift card saw $199 vanish
This past summer, Dina Pfeiffer was overwhelmed by her brother’s generosity when he handed her son Niall two Visa gift cards with $200 each on them for his graduation from Clawson High School.
The next day, she decided to go online to review any rules or restrictions. She couldn’t believe it when she spotted the balance on…
