Day 4 of Fraudmas: The Gift Card Payment Scam
By December 3, 2025 Fraud information
An “urgent” request for gift cards is a giant red flag.Gift cards make great gifts for your friends, family...and fraudsters. No real business, agency, or boss will ever ask you to buy gift cards for them. Ever. |
How the scam usually happens
Someone pretends to be:
- A utility company
- Tech support
- The IRS
- Your boss
- A loved one
They say:
“You need to buy gift cards right now to fix the issue.” Then they ask for the numbers on the back.
A very common scenario:
Your “boss” emails: “Can you grab $500 in gift cards ASAP for a client? Scratch the back and send me the codes.”
It feels weird, but you don’t want to question your boss, so people fall for it.
Avoid this with confidence
1. If someone demands gift cards → AUTOMATIC SCAM. There are no exceptions.
2. Don’t share the numbers or codes with anyone.
3. If someone tells you to lie at checkout (for example, they tell you to say they're for personal use) → RUN.
4. When in doubt, hang up and call the real organization directly.
The Federal Trade Commission has a great article about this here: https://consumer.ftc.gov/avoiding-reporting-gift-card-scams
Stay Topside by taking proactive steps to protect yourself!
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