Scams have certainly been around for many years, but in recent years the various types of scams has ramped up big time. One new scam that is affecting retailers and consumers is the ‘Gift Card Draining’ scam.
Here is how it works.
Internet hackers use bots to obtain gift card numbers that are still on the shelves at retail stores. Once the cards are purchased, they are able to drain the money off of them in seconds. These hackers can drain thousands of dollars worth of gift card money in just seconds.
Nearly 60% of all internet traffic to gift card websites are bots.
You don’t have to be techy in order to run the ‘gift card draining’ scam either. People are able to just go onto the dark web and find ‘dirty bots’ that will do the work for you. Some of these bots are able to gain access to gift card numbers while they are still on the shelves, purchase them, drain money and then return them to the shelves — all digitally.
Some of the most popular gift cards that are drained are Target, Walmart, eBay and Razer Gold.
Consumers should be weary of purchasing gift cards online also. Many scammers will sell gift cards with $100 value in exchange for $75 cash. But when the consumer received the gift card number — the money has already been drained off of it.