We all know that when we are crossing items off of our Christmas shopping list, gift cards are a pretty good bet to get for your favorite someone but now residents coast to coast are being warned of a gift card scam focused on the tampering of card barcodes.
A statistic from 2021 saw an estimated $3.8 million in losses from gift card fraud the Retail Council of Canada says. The scam involves replacing the barcode on a gift card with one linked to the scammer’s card. When unsuspecting buyers purchase the tampered card, the funds load onto the scammer’s account instead.
One way around the fraud perhaps could be virtual gift cards which are sent directly via email or giving cash as an alternative. Victims of fraud are encouraged to report incidents to local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Written by: C. Soares