Safest Place to Purchase Gift Cards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only order direct from Amazon. The ones in the mini gift card holder (the little envelope that's about card sized) are sealed in plastic now to prevent fraud.

I feel like ordering by mail seems even more risky for some reason. But maybe that’s a better option if they are sealed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've read about how there have been fraud issues with gift cards, and have actually even had this happen to me at a few places. (Once I gave someone a gift card and the money actually wasn't on there - luckily I had the receipt and we got it fixed!)

I normally just go to Walgreens, but wondering if it's 'safer' to buy from certain stores versus others.

Mostly looking for gift cards for Amazon and would prefer an actual card versus an e-card.

So are you comparing the codes on receipt with your gift cards every time?

Np. For us, it was the redemption code that was incorrect (incomplete, per Apple). No way to check those ahead of time. Once we provided the original receipt, they were able to fund the card.

+1 to buying/sending them digitally these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you doubt that this is happening, here is an NBC short video on how the thieves are draining the cards.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1PVbAcusKP/?igsh=cHkzNDFrZGN6eGs=

Thanks for posting. One in 4 gift cards end up drained of funds?? WTF?

And I normally do buy gift cards from CVS, so that's just crappy. You couldn't even tell that the one card was tampered with AT ALL. There is literally just no way to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've read about how there have been fraud issues with gift cards, and have actually even had this happen to me at a few places. (Once I gave someone a gift card and the money actually wasn't on there - luckily I had the receipt and we got it fixed!)

I normally just go to Walgreens, but wondering if it's 'safer' to buy from certain stores versus others.

Mostly looking for gift cards for Amazon and would prefer an actual card versus an e-card.

So are you comparing the codes on receipt with your gift cards every time?

Np. For us, it was the redemption code that was incorrect (incomplete, per Apple). No way to check those ahead of time. Once we provided the original receipt, they were able to fund the card.

+1 to buying/sending them digitally these days.

The PP that posted a video addresses that there are scams associated with digital ones also. Scammers have set up fake 'check your balance' website where they take the gift card numbers and drain them that way. Just FYI