Ontario woman tries to use Visa prepaid gift card, realizes she had been scammed

An Ontario woman was "shocked" to find out her unused $250 gift card was almost completely drained.

"My aunt gave me this gift card as a present and I was shocked to find out it was almost empty," Catherine Uchida, of Mississauga, told CTV News Toronto.

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Uchida was given a $250 Joker Visa gift card, but she said when she went to buy a jacket with it, the cashier told her there was a problem.

"I decided to take a look at the gift card and the amount on the card, and it said I only had $1.50, even though I had never used it before," Uchida said.

Stranger still, the gift card had transactions on it that were made far from where she lived.

"It said I had made transactions in Hamilton and in Etobicoke, but I hadn't been to either location where the card was used," said Uchida.

Gift card scams have been around for years, but the holiday season tends to see an uptick as criminals know gift cards are a popular present.

It's often called the gift card "drain scam," as criminals tamper with gift cards so when they're loaded with cash they'll get the money instead.

To make this work, criminals typically go to a store, copy the gift card number and bar activation code, then reseal the package before placing it back on the shelf. They may also plaster a fraudulent bar code sticker on the card.

As soon as the card is activated, the money that is added goes directly to the scammer instead of onto the gift card that was just purchased.

To avoid getting duped, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises inspecting a gift card carefully before purchase.

“Run your finger over the card. Does it look like a sticker has been put over the barcode? Does it look like the package was opened and maybe glued back together?” said Melanie McGovern with the BBB.

To further protect yourself from fraud, buy gift cards that are from behind the counter, or sold online, and save a receipt in case there's a problem.

In Uchida's case, she was able to file a dispute with Visa and they agreed to give her a replacement $250 gift card. As the replacement card was sent through the mail, Uchida is unsure when she will receive the card due to the ongoing Canada Post strike.

As for gift cards, she's concerned it could happen again.

"It really worries me that someone might spend their hard-earned money or someone who really needs the $250 and they might not get it at all because it will be gone before they even know it," said Uchida.