Beware of this gift card scam!

[sumlthomp]

I wanted to share with all my fellow disboard members about my experience with purchasing gift cards online so that others do not have the same result as me.

I had heard about the site Cardavenue.com from a thread on disboards as a place to buy, sell or trade gift cards. When I checked it out back in February, they had several different people selling Southwest Airlines E-gift Cards at approx 20-25% of the value of the gift card. I was skeptical at first, but once I read the cardavenue.com policy, I thought I couldn't go wrong. They guarantee that they have "verified" the balance on the gift cards sold over a certain amount and also offer a guarantee on the gift card balance for 30 days. I purchased my first card and immediately checked the balance and it was what it was supposed to be. At the time, I thought the only real risk was that the seller could spend the e-gift card before me. I wasn't planning on booking airfare until June, so I booked a flight and cancelled it so that the funds went into ticketless travel. I purchased a total of 5 e-gift cards from 2 different sellers. I did the same thing with all 5 purchases so all the funds were sitting in ticketless travel. I thought it was such a great deal. I didn't know how these sellers got their gift cards, but they were legit gift cards.

Fast forward to Monday, June 22, the day before tickets were going on sale for our November trip. I don't know what made me check, but I sat down to gather the ticketless travel numbers and check the amounts of each on southwest.com. None of them showed up! I was panicking and didn't know what was going on. I called Southwest Airlines and found out that all the gift cards had been pulled because they had been purchased with stolen credit card information. Southwest had been notified and pulled the gift cards in May, but I was never notified. I spent the entire day calling everyone - Southwest, Paypal, my bank because I made the mistake of paying right out of my checking account through Paypal rather than using a credit card - plus I was emailing Cardavenue, reporting everything to the ic3.gov (FBI internet crime site) and filing a police report. I cried so much that day - I had lost a total of $1040.00. My bank couldn't help because I had sent the money to Paypal. Paypal wouldn't even open claims for me at first because I was past the 45 day mark, but after about 10 phone calls to their customer service department and then additional ones to different management people in their Resolution Dept. (I found a phone list with names and numbers online and just starting calling!) they opened claims for all my purchases. The one seller immediately initiated a refund, but unfortunately Paypal was only able to recover $8.75 of approx $750. The other seller never responded to their emails, but Paypal was able to recover my $295.00 from his account. Cardavenue.com would not do anything for me. I went back and forth with their Customer Service Dept and they would not budge because I was past their 30 day mark, even though there was no way I could have known at that point. I ended up reporting Cardavenue.com to the Better Business Bureau where I also found out they already have an F rating. At the time, they were still allowing people to sell Southwest Gift Cards on their site. I'm sure I'm not the only one who had this problem with gift cards sold on their site, but I don't think they cared about it because they weren't paying out anything. The ic3.gov has turned my complaint over to my state's Attorney General and they are currently trying to contact the seller to attempt to resolve this.

Please tell anyone and everyone you know about this. I don't want to see anyone else experience the same thing I have.

I would appreciate it if you do not reply to this thread with an unnecessary negative comments. Thank you.

 

[secretpantssam]

I'm so sorry this happened to you


But thanks for the warning!

 

[here757]

hard lesson learned thats for sure
thanks for the heads up

 

[JeMarie6]

Ouch. That's really too bad. Not only the money lost, but all the hassle of it! I've been buying gift cards off a similar site for over a year and never had any trouble yet, but I do understand the potential is there.

 

[kristinlynn]

This very same thing happend to me with gift cards that I purchased from ebay. I knew there was risk to buying gift cards on ebay, but just assumed it was that the previous owner could spend the funds before I could...I never thought about people selling me a gift card they bought with a stolen credit card. Anyway, luckily ebay refunded everything (I was very impressed with ebays customer service). I'm very sorry this happend to you...I hope you end up getting your money back

 

[Duchie]

Back in June, my purse was stolen. Within 20 minutes the thief was at Target and Best Buy making $800 in gift card purchases per transaction. Nothing else was purchased - just gift cards, and each transaction was $800 exactly. I discovered the theft pretty quickly (within 30 minutes) and DH started calling to cancel the cards while I delt with the police.

The police officer told me that this was a common thing now - people stealing wallets and using them to buy gift cards, always $800 at a time. The money is then used somehow in the drug trade. If they catch it in time (like with us) they will have the retailer cancel the cards and refund the money back to the card. In my case, we were able to do this at Best Buy but not Target. The officer said that once purchased, the cards are then sold at online places (he mentioned eBay as one) and by the time buyers realize they are bad, it's too late - the thief has the money and is long gone.

I'm still dealing with this mess. One of my cards contacted me and said the signature on the fradulent transactions looks like mine, so I might have to pay those charges. Nevermind that their own rep was on the phone with my DH while the transactions were taking place, and that their rep actually spoke with the police officer WHILE THE THIEF WAS MAKING THE PURCHASES, they still think it might have been me.

I will never purchase gift cards online from a place like this. I'm sorry you're going through this, but even more sorry for the person whose credit card info was stolen to buy those cards in the first place. I know the mess they're going through, and it's not pretty.

 

[southernbelle5672]

I am so so sorry.

 

[eyor44]

Thank you for posting this to let others know to beware.

 

[PinkRhombus]

. One of my cards contacted me and said the signature on the fradulent transactions looks like mine, so I might have to pay those charges. Nevermind that their own rep was on the phone with my DH while the transactions were taking place, and that their rep actually spoke with the police officer WHILE THE THIEF WAS MAKING THE PURCHASES, they still think it might have been me.

They should be able to look at the security video and tell it wasn't you. If it's a big amount, I'd fight it pretty hard.

 

[Duchie]

They should be able to look at the security video and tell it wasn't you. If it's a big amount, I'd fight it pretty hard.

It is a big amount - $2400 (it would have been at least $3200 if we hadn't caught it so quickly - the lady using my card tried to get 2-3 more transactions through while we were on the phone with the credit card company). The police know it wasn't me. The responding officer brought me a photo from the security cameras showing the woman who used my cards and it wa clearly not me. It's just that the credit card company for some reason isn't calling the police and getting the info from them. What she needs to do is 1) listen to the recordings from our calls with them on the day the card was stolen, and 2) talk to the police here. All she will tell me is that it's "under further investigation". I'll fight them to the end to not pay these charges.

 

[JustcallmeHappy]

thanks for sharing this

sorry to hear it happened to you

 

[victorandbellasmom]

I am so sorry that happened to you. Thank you for sharing and letting us know.

 

[sumlthomp]

Thanks for all the comments - I'm so glad to see that so many people have read this thread. I wanted to spread the word so that everyone I know is aware of this scam. I have told so many people in person, but I knew this was a great way to share my experience with so many people.

 

[Iri920]

Thanks for the warning, it will definately make me think twice before buying a gift card online.

We did have our credit card number stolen and they went out and purchased an $800 gift card to office max. We were lucky that the store found it suspicious and called the policy and they had a report. I was wondering why they would buy a gift card and now I see why.

 

[LanaJae]

Very sorry to read this, but thank you for the warning!

A business or a hotel in Rochester, MN sold my credit card number and the code on the back to some place that manufactures actual duplicate credit cards.

My daughter was having surgery at Mayo Clinic and I was gone for several days. Someone spent a small fortune in Atlanta, GA. Now that I read this, I am sure some were gift cards as they were even amounts.

I since learned this is common in/around areas with hospitals/clinics like Mayo because people are really sick or having specialized surgery, etc. and it gives them a few extra days.

My card was only out of my possession to hand it to pay for something. From now on, I won't use it anymore unless I am the one swiping it.

 

[etraible]

Duchie, do you mind me asking which cc company is giving you such a hard time? They sound like morons.

OP - thanks for the heads up, my mind doesn't think like a criminal so I'd never have realized what could go wrong with a transaction like that. I too would of thought I was safe once I deposited the funds into SW's ticket funds. I'm very sorry for you.

 

[Missy1961]

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

My local supermarket carries tons of gift cards, it was always so easy to go there, pick out a bunch & pay for them with a credit card. Then one day a few months ago, I noticed a sign--"gift cards must be paid for with cash only". I couldn't figure out why, and the next time I needed one, I asked. The clerk told me that this is very common. I never would have thought of it at all.

 

[jpatro21]

That stinks

 

[Ava]

My local supermarket carries tons of gift cards, it was always so easy to go there, pick out a bunch & pay for them with a credit card. Then one day a few months ago, I noticed a sign--"gift cards must be paid for with cash only". I couldn't figure out why, and the next time I needed one, I asked. The clerk told me that this is very common. I never would have thought of it at all.

I've noticed this at drugstores around here that carry gift cards - the gift cards have to be paid for with cash. Now I know why.

OP, I'm sorry this happened to you, I hope you get it sorted out!

 

[kristinlynn]

Anyone know why it's in $800 amounts...I don't understand that part...