Scammers have devised an innovative method of earning cash from gift cards at the time of the Christmas season that’s difficult to spot.
According to CTVNews reports(Opens the report in an entirely New browser), shoppers in Canada are advised to verify the barcode of gift cards prior to buying the cards as they could have an unauthentic barcode that is printed on their back. The fraud was discovered by a former police officer Nichelle Laus who tried to purchase the $50 gift card from Winners in October. However, it turned out to be it was an Esso gas card after being it was scanned.
A closer inspection of the card revealed an barcode on the back that covered the genuine Winners barcode. If Laus had paid for this purchase fraudulent Esso card would have been loaded with $50 and her gift card would have been useless.
It happened again this weekend, when Laus who examines every gift card prior to purchasing it, decided to buy 100 dollars PlayStation gift card. It was true that a simple finger over the back showed an unintentionally raised barcode due to an adhesive sticker was applied to the card.
Laus made her own on Instagram an video(Opens with a fresh tab) about the PlayStation gift card that explains the way it works. Laus also posted a video on TikTok(Opens with a fresh tab) demonstrating one of the stickers being removed, and how high-quality they are.
