HOUSTON — A warning for anyone planning on buying gift cards for the holidays: Examine the card closely before you pay for it at the register.
Thieves have been recording the claim codes from the cards, then waiting for someone to purchase them from the stores, and later spending all the funds from the cards before the recipients even see them.
The fraud has been happening in cities throughout the country -- including Houston.
“I have bought thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of cards,” a Houston grandmother who asked that her name not be used for this story said. “This is the first problem I’ve had. I’ve been lucky.”
The woman was on a regular trip to her local grocery store in October when she bought Amazon gift cards, including three that totaled $150. The cards were among the gifts she gave to her grandkids on Thanksgiving.
Not long after she got back home from the holiday, the grandmother got a surprise.
“The phone started ringing, ‘Grandma, the gift cards don’t work,’” she said they told her.
Determined to right the wrong, the woman started by calling Amazon.
“’Can’t help you,’” they told her. “’Go back to where you purchased them.’”
That is what the grandmother did and returned to the Kroger at the intersection of Kirby and Main Street where she bought the cards.
“’The gift cards I purchased here are not working,’” she said she told them. “And was told by the store, ‘Yeah, that happens.’”
That is a fact. The phenomenon has been happening in stores that sell gift cards throughout the country. It's a scam in which thieves access the cards and take down the claim codes. Then they wait.
When someone buys the card at the store...
“That activates the card, and they spend the money,” the woman said.
READ MORE: Watch out for these common holiday scams
Frustrated with the experience, not so much the loss of the money, the grandmother went online and made a post about her experience on Nextdoor.
“I thought it would be nice to show other grandmas what can happen, and I got 150 to 160 responses from numerous people from all over the city who said how much money they’ve lost buying gift cards,” the woman said. “I’m not the only person.”
The Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston and Southeast Texas confirmed it.
“We are hearing a lot about this issue,” BBB vice president of investigations Leah Napoliello said. “People going to stores buying cards and find out later they’ve already been used.”
Napoliello said it's important for the stores to check the cards before the sale and for the consumers to check as well.
“If the barcode has been removed and a sticker has been placed on top of the code, that is a signal that someone has tampered with it,” Napoliello said.
She said consumers should first go back to the store where they purchased the gift cards and try to get their money back. They can contact the BBB if that does not work.
That Houston grandmother has some advice for those of us looking to buy gift cards this year.
“Well, my advice to consumers is not to buy cards,” she said.
The woman said she does not intend to purchase gift cards ever again. She said on a positive note, the Kroger where she bought the cards offered her a settlement to make up almost all the money that she lost on the used cards. The woman said she was happy with that.
Kroger’s corporate office sent KHOU 11 this emailed statement in response to a request for comment, which reads:
“Kroger’s Houston Division processes hundreds of gift card transactions daily, and fraud incidents are very rare. With Safety as a core value, we employ multiple strategies to protect our customers – from gift card fixture signage to digital resources with guidance to avoid fraud and common scams, report fraud, and answer frequently asked questions. In addition, Kroger associates are trained in fraud prevention. Customers with questions can contact our Kroger Customer Relations Center at 1-866-544-8062.”