Gift Card Scams: The One Rule, and What to Do If You Paid

A request to pay with a gift card is the scam.

The FTC puts it without qualification: only scammers will tell you to buy a gift card, such as a Google Play or Apple card, and give them the numbers off the back. No real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them. The FCC’s robocall guidance says the same: if a caller asks for payment with a gift card, it is a scam. Gift cards are for gifts, not for paying bills, fines, or fees.

Urgency, a named store, and the numbers on the back.

It starts with a call, text, email, or social media message, and three tactics follow. Urgency: pay now or something terrible will happen. Instructions: which card to buy and where, often Walmart, Target, CVS, or Walgreens, sometimes at several stores so cashiers will not get suspicious, and sometimes with the scammer staying on the phone while you shop. The numbers: the card number and PIN, or a photo of the back. Those numbers let the scammer take the money even while you still hold the card. If a caller keeps you on the line on the way to the store, hang up.

The script changes; the payment does not.

The FTC lists the common ones:

• the IRS, Social Security, or even the FTC demanding taxes or a fine;
• tech support from Microsoft or Apple claiming your computer has a problem;
• a friend or relative in an emergency, possibly with a cloned voice, asking you to tell no one;
• a prize that needs fees paid first;
• a utility threatening to cut off service;
• a romance contact from a dating site;
• a check for more than you expected, with the difference to be returned on a gift card.

For a family emergency, call the person back on a number you already have.

Move quickly, and keep the card and the receipt.

The FTC’s steps, using the card and the store receipt:

1. Report the scam to the gift card company right away, no matter how long ago it happened. The FTC’s article lists phone numbers and forms for the major brands, including Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Target, and Best Buy.
2. Ask for your money back. Some companies are helping stop gift card scams and may refund you, and Apple and Google can freeze money still on their cards.
3. Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Every report helps the FTC build cases against scammers.

Personal or account information needs its own steps.

Scammers who get a gift card often tried for more first. If you gave them a password, change it and every reused copy and turn on two-factor authentication. If they had your Social Security, bank, or card number, follow the steps in the data breach checklist, starting with a credit freeze.

Older relatives are frequent targets.

Talk through the rule with family members before a scammer does: no government agency, utility, or tech company takes gift cards as payment, and a real emergency survives a five-minute call back. Many of these scams arrive as texts or emails first, so the habits in how to spot phishing help too.