A new gift card scam could affect Mississauga and Brampton residents
Published November 28, 2021 at 2:45 pm
If you’re going to be buying gift cards for the holidays, be careful where you buy them.
A local resident recently reported buying a $100 Winners gift card at a Shoppers Drug Mart location — but when attempting to use the card a week later, all of the money on it was already gone.
The cause: Scammers who take photos of the bar codes on unattended gift cards, allowing them to download it onto their phone or computer.
When the gift card is activated it shows up on the scammer’s device, allowing them to shop with it online.
The resident says they tried to contact the store and their credit card provider for support, but was told by both that they could not help with the issue.
As scammers can target any store’s gift cards like this, it’s advised to only buy gift cards from stores that don’t leave the cards out unattended.