‘The balance was zero:' How scammers target gift cards

Gift cards are easy, convenient and popular, especially around the holidays for those last-minute gifts.

“I have seven nieces and nephews so I’m always scrambling to get a bunch of gifts,” said Steven Meyer, who said gift cards were on his holiday shopping list.

The National Retail Federation expects gift card spending to reach $29.3 billion this year, an increase from last year. It is a trend scammers are taking advantage of to try to steal your hard-earned money.

NBC Responds units across the country have heard from viewers in recent years who say they bought a gift card only to find out their recipient never got the money.

“I checked it and it said the balance was zero,” one man told NBC Responds.

“I was just trying to figure out how this could happen,” another viewer who was scammed said.

“The girl at the register gave them the receipt that said there’s no money in it,” said Carrie Moscowicz, a South Florida mom.

Carrie said she experienced this scam firsthand when she purchased dozens of gift cards from a major retailer for the staff at her child’s school earlier this year.

“It was really embarrassing when the teachers, you know, they came back and they were like my gift card wasn’t working,” Carrie said.

“The cards don’t necessarily look like they’re tampered with,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst with Bankrate.com.

Rossman said fraudsters will typically scratch off the PIN for a card or copy the number in a way that isn’t necessarily easy for a shopper to see.

“And then they’re basically just waiting for somebody to load the card and then they can steal the funds,” Rossman said.

Carrie was able to get the retailer to re-issue the gift cards that had been compromised.  

If you are buying a gift card at a store this holiday season, give the card a close look, especially the PIN area.  Make sure there isn’t a sticker that has been placed to cover the PIN or that the card has been tampered with in some way.

Look for a card that is deeper in the rack, instead of just grabbing the first one that’s hanging up front.

Order a gift card directly from a retailer and have it shipped to your home or the person you’re giving it to instead of buying the card at the store.

If you get a gift card this holiday season, don’t hold on to it.  Use it as soon as you can and keep the gift receipt.  The receipt will come in handy if you run into any problems with the card.

If you discover that your gift card has been compromised and someone has stolen the money, contact police. 

The Miami Police Department is asking people to file police reports if they are victims of this scam.