Gift Card Scams

Apple gift cards

Physical Apple gift cards sold in stores such as Woolworths and Coles are a prime target for tampering. Whenever these supermarkets run one of their frequent promotions on Apple gift cards, there are invariably numerous reports of people buying tampered cards.

The way this scam works is that criminals steal unactivated Apple gift cards from stores, carefully remove or replace the redemption codes inside, reseal them and then place them back on the shelves for unsuspecting customers to purchase.

When you purchase one of these tampered Apple gift cards, you are paying to activate a code that only the criminal has access to. The code inside your card – if there even is one – won’t work as it has either been damaged or belongs to an entirely different Apple gift card.

When you open a tampered Apple gift card you may notice:

• The serial number on the inside does not match the one on the outside
• The redemption code has been removed or damaged (this could be as subtle as changing one character to look like another)
• It’s difficult to open because of the glue used to reseal the packaging
• The denomination on the card inside is different to the one printed on the outside (e.g. one says $20 and the other says $100)

It is often impossible to notice any of these signs without actually opening the gift card. For that reason, we recommend unsealing Apple gift cards before you pay for them so that you can at least confirm that the two serial numbers match and that the redemption code is undamaged.

Some Woolworths stores have actually begun asking customers to do this themselves when buying Apple gift cards, whilst others have elected to only sell Apple gift cards from behind the service counter instead of placing them on public display.

It may seem unusual to open a gift card before you purchase it but it only takes a couple of seconds and could save you the hassle of chasing a refund. The unsealed gift card will still be suitable for gifting.

Visa and Mastercard gift cards

Physical prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards are targeted by criminals because they can easily be spent online and overseas. We’ve seen countless cases of tampered Vanilla Visa, Vanilla Mastercard, Coles Mastercard and Activ Visa gift cards in Australia.

With these gift cards, common signs of tampering include:

• Missing card numbers on the front
• Missing security code (CVV) on the back

This scam works similarly to the Apple one mentioned earlier. Criminals steal unactivated Visa and Mastercard gift cards from stores, record the card details, remove some of this information and then place them back in stores for people to purchase and activate.

When you purchase one of these tampered gift cards, you are unable to use it online as you don’t have access to all sixteen digits or the security code (CVV). You also won’t be able to use the card physically if the scammers have reset its magnetic stripe.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy way of checking prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards for signs of tampering before you purchase them. If your gift card appears fine from the outside, you should open it as soon as you pay and check for any missing details.

Whilst Activ Visa gift cards include both a CVV and PIN, Vanilla Visa, Vanilla Mastercard and Coles Mastercard gift cards only include a CVV (security code) so don’t worry if your card doesn’t have a PIN.

Also, don’t worry if your Vanilla Visa, Vanilla Mastercard or Coles Mastercard gift cards have stickers for barcodes as that’s just the way some are manufactured. There is a fake barcode scam but it appears to only be affecting Eftpos gift cards (more info in the next section).

Eftpos gift cards

Physical prepaid Eftpos gift cards likely aren’t as much of a target for scammers because they can only be used in-person by swiping the cards. That being said, we have seen several instances of tampered TCN Eftpos and Perfect Eftpos gift cards so they aren’t entirely safe either.

Scammers take photocopies of the activation barcodes for Eftpos gift cards and stick them on top of the barcodes for cards sold in stores. When you buy one of these tampered Eftpos gift cards by scanning the fake barcode, you’re actually activating the one in the scammer’s possession.

This type of scam is easy for them to perform because many Eftpos gift cards are still sold in open packaging where the physical card is simply stuck to the front of a piece of cardboard. Thankfully, both TCN Eftpos and Perfect Eftpos gift cards appear to be transitioning to more tamper-resistant packaging which should make this scam much harder to pull off.

If you’re buying a prepaid Eftpos gift card where the physical card is exposed, check that there isn’t a low quality fake barcode obscuring the real one. If there is, make sure you report it to staff at that store.

What to do if you buy a tampered gift card

If you do purchase a gift card that has been tampered with, you are entitled to a refund or replacement. How you go about obtaining it depends on where you bought the tampered gift card.

For Woolworths and Big W purchases you should contact Woolworths Gift Cards customer care. They can be reached by email at giftcard@customerservice.woolworths.com.au or you can call them on 1300 10 1234.

For tampered gift cards purchased at Coles, you should speak to Coles customer care. You can call them on 1800 061 562, submit an enquiry on their website or message them through their Facebook page.

If you purchased a tampered gift card from another store (e.g. ALDI, Kmart, Target etc) you should contact their customer support.

It can sometimes possible to obtain a refund directly from the store you purchased a tampered gift card from but you are usually better off going through their official support channels rather than harassing in-store staff who are likely powerless to solve the issue.

Staff may try to tell you that you need to speak with the company that produced the gift card but this isn’t true. Dealing with the gift card company directly should only be a last resort.

Always hang onto your receipt and activation slip (the smaller receipt that accompanies a gift card purchase) as these may be needed when submitting your claim for a refund. Other evidence of your purchase may also suffice (e.g. bank statement, rewards account activity etc). 

Other gift card scams

These are the most common gift card scams we’ve observed in Australia but it’s entirely possible that scammers will branch out to other gift cards or invent new ways of tampering. If you spot any new gift card scams, let us know so that we can keep this article up to date.

If you’re a buyer or recipient of prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards, you might also want to know about BIN attacks. This is where criminals brute force different card number, expiry and security code combinations until they find ones that work.

Almost all prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards are susceptible to BIN attacks. Whilst the chances of it happening to you are low, we still recommend using Visa and Mastercard gift cards sooner rather than later as the longer you leave them, the higher the chance of a successful attack.

If you have a prepaid Visa or Mastercard and notice that it has been used to make transactions you didn’t authorise, report it immediately to the gift card company. They can issue you a replacement gift card but it’s often a lengthy process that requires a lot of back and forth.

Possible solutions

Changes to the way gift cards are produced and sold could help to eliminate tampering scams.

Whilst gift card companies are continuing to introduce new tamper-resistant packaging, scammers always seem to find a way in. Ironically, the more tamper-resistant they make gift cards, the harder it is for consumers to check them before purchasing. 

Stores that sell physical gift cards targeted by scammers could choose to sell them from behind the counter instead of on public display. This is a strategy we’ve already seen employed by some Woolworths locations with Apple gift cards but it could be expanded to include other stores and gift cards as well.

Gift card companies could also change how their gift cards work. When you buy a True Rewards Visa gift card, for example, your receipt contains a code that you use to add the card to your mobile wallet. The “gift card” on the shelf in the store contains no sensitive information.

These possible solutions aren’t perfect but they do highlight some of the changes that gift card companies and sellers could make to stop their customers from falling victim to tampering scams.

Conclusion

The chances of you buying a tampered Apple or prepaid Visa, Mastercard or Eftpos gift card are low but you should still know what signs to look for, if only to save yourself the potential headache of having to obtain a refund.

If you’re buying a physical Apple gift card, open it and confirm that the internal and external serial numbers match and that the redemption code hasn’t been damaged or removed. If you’re buying an Eftpos gift card in open packaging, check that it doesn’t have a fake barcode before you pay for it.

Prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards can’t usually be inspected for signs of tampering before you buy them. However, you can check them immediately after paying and then, if necessary, begin the process of obtaining a refund.

A gift card that has been opened by you can still be gifted to someone so there’s no reason not to err on the side of caution and check. After all, the recipient would likely be much more disappointed by an unusable gift card than an opened one.