Toronto-area woman 'very frustrated' when $400 worth of gift cards are empty

A Markham woman is "very frustrated" after the $400 in gift cards she recently bought turned out to be nearly empty.

Audrey Jamieson, a business owner, says she likes to get gift cards for her employees to show appreciation for their work.

"I always buy them different gift cards for their birthdays, be it Tim Hortons, Amazon, or the LCBO," Jamieson told CTV News Toronto. 

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Jamieson said she bought 10 Amazon gift cards at Shoppers Drug Mart in October this year, and eight of them turned out to have no value.

"We purchased the gift cards and they were all intact, then one of my employees went to use it and the last four digits under the claim code (were) scratched off," said Jamieson.

When she returned to Shoppers Drug Mart, Jamieson said she was told to reach out to Amazon instead. After more than a week of waiting to hear back, Jamieson said she feels like she's been left caught between the two companies trying to get her money back.

"I'm very frustrated. We feel like Shoppers Drug Mart, where we purchased the cards, should be taking some responsibility," Jamieson said.

A spokesperson for Loblaw, Shoppers Drug Mart's parent company, told CTV News Toronto that it has contacted Jamieson and "were able to resolve this issue for them."

"Unfortunately, gift card fraud is a problem that's impacting the retail sector in general. Our store teams are trained to recognize tampering, as well as other fraudulent situations involving the purchase of gift cards and do their best to intercept cards that may be fraudulent before they are purchased," the spokesperson said in a statement.

In Jamieson's case, she was able to get her $400 back.

"This is great to have this matter looked after. I'm very pleased," Jamieson said.

Earlier this month, CTV News Toronto spoke to a Mississauga woman who discovered her $250 Visa prepaid gift card was nearly drained. 

• READ MORE: Ontario woman tries to use Visa prepaid gift card, realizes she had been scammed

This kind of fraud is called a gift card "drain scam," as criminals tend to tamper with gift cards so when they are loaded with cash and activated at the till, they will get the money instead.

To protect yourself from gift card fraud, examine it before purchase or buy a gift card from behind the counter and save the receipt in case there is an issue.