Avoiding And Reporting Gift Card Scams Consumer Advice Scam 1: threatened by the irs. in one of the more common gift card scams, a criminal will call you or send you a text or email message claiming to be working with the irs. this scammer will say that you owe unpaid taxes and that the irs will arrest you if you don’t pay now. the criminal says that you must pay the taxes you owe with a gift card. That’s a scam. your money was gone the moment you gave someone those gift card numbers. but now, some gift card companies might be able to get your money back. gift card scams start with calls, texts, emails, or social media messages. the scammer pretends to be someone they’re not: a company, the government, a family member, or romantic.
This Sign Warning You About Gift Card Scams R Mildlyinteresting Of the $148 million reported lost to gift card scams during this period, $111 million were losses reported by people who reported a loss of $5,000 or more. file. download file (501.42 kb) gift cards are an easy way to give. reports to the ftc’s consumer sentinel show they’re also an easy way to take. Visa. call 1 (800) 847 2911 and follow visa’s instructions. keep a copy of the visa gift card or your store receipt. visit visa’s website. (link is external) to learn about scams. walmart. call 1 (888) 537 5503 and follow walmart’s instructions. keep a copy of the walmart gift card or your store receipt. The scams usually involve someone supposedly spotting fraud or criminal activity on one of your accounts, offering to help “protect” your money, sometimes asking you to share verification codes, and always telling you to move money from your bank, investment, or retirement account. and every bit of it is a scam. In december 2020, bbb released a tips article on avoiding gift card scams and a warning about cardpool, llc, due to a large number of complaints about the texas based online gift card marketplace.