Anyone buying last-minute Christmas gift cards issued alert | UK | News

Plenty of people will be opening gift cards this week as Christmas is just days away. However, some cards that have been wrapped and ready for months could already be worthless due to a cruel scheme.

Some people prefer the gift of choice and ask for these vouchers specifically to shop at their favourite stores, and others might be scrambling to put together a last-minute gift. But people have been urged to shop carefully and take precautions as scammers are likely to take advantage.

BBC Radio 4 Money Box presenter Dan Whitworth accepted that these “quick and flexible” presents are often targeted by fraudsters who might have already gotten their hands on your cash before you’ve given out your Christmas presents – leading to some awkward conversations.

Dan shared figures from Action Fraud during a recent segment on BBC Morning Live, which claimed £13.4m was stolen in the last year alone using gift cards. He did stress that this is likely to be far less than the real figure, which only includes reported cases.

The most common tactic is ‘card draining’, according to Dan. He said that this scheme takes place in plain sight, as criminals often scout out the gift card wall in supermarkets and shops and hand-pick a bunch of targets at once.

He said: “They will tamper with the gift card. They might peel the [security cover] on the back, scrape away the foil on the back, and they’re then basically able to drain that card of any cash as soon as the money is put on.”

To protect themselves from this, Dan suggests people take 20 seconds to check everything over before heading to the tills. It is also worth buying from a different location in the shop, if possible.

In most cases, these large sets of gift cards for various retailers are rarely monitored by staff. Dan claimed that people can be more confident about their cards not having been tampered with if they head to the tills from the start.

He said: “I was in a supermarket at the weekend, there’s lots of [gift cards] right by the checkout and the tills – and that’s not by accident. That’s so members of staff can keep half an eye on them.”

Scammers might be less likely, or unable in some cases, to swipe as many codes as possible from these without risking the checkout operator alerting someone to their scam.

One4All, a popular provider of gift cards that work in multiple participating locations, has issued some advice on its website for anyone who finds themselves a victim of scamming this Christmas. A spokesperson said: “Gift card fraud is a serious and growing threat, targeting individuals and businesses alike. Scammers use gift cards as an easy way to steal money, so spotting gift card fraud is crucial to protect yourself from financial loss.”

To prevent yourself from becoming a victim of package tampering, the specialists suggest these simple steps when shopping:

• Fraudsters may tamper with gift card packaging to steal the card number before you even purchase your gift card.
• When in a retailer and before you purchase – check the packaging is intact and shows no signs of tampering, this can look like the packaging has already been opened or the card has been removed previously.
• If something looks off, pick another card from the stand or raise the issue with a member of staff.