Scammers keep finding ways to drain gift cards
Canadians spend billions of dollars on gift cards each year and for the most part they're used successfully without any issues, but occasionally some gift cards turn up empty.
“Well first it looks bad, but I told them I wasn’t trying to play a Christmas trick on them,,” said Jason Cheng of Mississauga, who bought two $100 gift cards for his sisters as Christmas presents that turned out to have zero balances.
Cheng bought the gift cards at Loblaws and thought they would make a nice gift to help them pay for groceries, but when they went to use them both had no funds.
"When she (his sister) went online to check the card it did confirm on Dec. 15th that it was activated with $100, but somehow 2 days later the card was drained," said Cheng.
Samantha De Melo and her fiancé of Brampton purchased a home last year and her future brother in law gave them a $400 gift card for Home Depot as a house warming gift.
The gift card was purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart and when they went to use it the following month it was empty.
"I have no idea how it was used in store when the card was in my possession," said De Melo who added “as soon as we scanned the bar code it said there was no balance on the card."
De Melo has been trying for the past eight months to get reimbursed for the gift card without success.
"For us to be gifted such a generous gift from a family member and not being able to utilize it is really frustrating," said De Melo.
Gift card fraud is a growing problem and while there can be issues with gift cards if they're not activated correctly, thieves are also trying to steal the money off the cards before you can spend it.
Thieves are using different tricks to empty gift cards, so to avoid gift card scams inspect gift cards carefully and look for signs of tampering. Avoid publicly displayed gift cards and purchase ones from behind the counter and always keep your receipts as proof of purchase.
If you received a gift card you should try to use it as soon as possible in case there is a problem and don't forget about them as many gift cards are put away and never used, which is pure profit for the retailer.
Loblaw, which is also the parent company of Shoppers Drug Mart told CTV News Toronto “Jason had contacted our Customer Care team about his recent experience. We’re in the process of investigating this matter and are currently awaiting a copy of his receipt. Please note that if this is found to be a case of fraud, we will issue replacement gift cards to the customer. Our colleagues are trained to recognize tampering, as well as other fraudulent situations involving the purchase of gift cards, and do our best to intercept cards that may be fraudulent before they are purchased.”
Loblaw just reached out to Cheng and gave his sisters backs $100 each for their gift cards. Cheng said “I already told them next year, it's cold hard cash."
As for De Melo’s case the spokesperson added “We also appreciate you bringing Samantha’s experience to our attention. Our Customer Care team will be reaching out to her personally regarding her experience so we can investigate, as well. We look forward to speaking with her so we can resolve this issue.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Her fiance has been in prison for 49 years. She's trying to free him before it’s too late
She was lying in bed on a Thursday morning, thinking about the man she loved, hoping to win his freedom before time ran out.