Disney Gift Card Deals

[gottalovepluto]

My was drained....proven stolen. Physical gift card, bought in store, CSA scratched the silver off the back to get the number. They are investigating. Apparently the thieves are using the cards in store on the mobile app. They're trying to figure out how the thieves are getting the access numbers.

Woah, maybe that's what happened to the person on Twitter who reported physical gift card was drained- the kicker was they bought with a credit card. Sounds like a smart hack, they had to have gotten the numbers from wherever Target manages their gift cards or whoever produces Target gift cards. And with all this mess (whatever it turns out to be!) I'd like to nominate Target over Disney for Worst Corporate IT Department 2016

I'm SO happy to hear people are getting refunds!

 

[sunflare]

ETA: Do you still have your receipt? My receipts show the card number that is being activated on it (but not the pin code) so I can match up the card and the receipt. Maybe the cashier did a slight of hand and swapped out your paid-for card for a blank? (Off to match up my cards and receipts ...)

Just saw this, btw. Not possible for a cashier to switch it out...i got it at a self checkout good thought, though!

 

[britmck]

Just saw this, btw. Not possible for a cashier to switch it out...i got it at a self checkout good thought, though!

Maybe someone took a picture of the barcode, and waited for the card to get activated. When checking out at a register, I've never seen cashiers need the access code, they just scan the barcode. I'm sorry your gift card was stolen, and I'm glad Target is sending you a new card.

I also bought a physical gift card, and now I'm trying to decide whether to spend it or not. I already have enough Disney gift cards, and I had intended on holding on to my Target gift card a little while longer. Now I'm not so sure.

 

[Moramoon]

I had planned on waiting to use mine as well. We were planning for our next trip to be in 2018 so I figured I'd hold onto my cards in case of a promo later on. I'm going to stop by our Target after work and go ahead and convert them. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

[sunflare]

Maybe someone took a picture of the barcode, and waited for the card to get activated. When checking out at a register, I've never seen cashiers need the access code, they just scan the barcode.

Can you add cards to the mobile app without the access code? I know you couldn't before, though that may have changed. The manager was pretty adamant that the thieves needed the access code for the way they used the card, so I'm just going off that.

 

[robinb]

Maybe someone took a picture of the barcode, and waited for the card to get activated. When checking out at a register, I've never seen cashiers need the access code, they just scan the barcode. I'm sorry your gift card was stolen, and I'm glad Target is sending you a new card.

I bet you're right and that a photo of the bar code would work at self check out .

 

[MichelleB]

I bet you're right and that a photo of the bar code would work at self check out

But they'd still have to have the pin or to use it which is under the silver strip.

 

[AmyAnne]

Update: they just called and said they would be mailing me a new card. I should get an email with tracking info soon.

So glad Target is fixing this for you quickly.

Just out of curiosity, what kind (theme) of gift card did you purchase? I am wondering if maybe someone took a picture of the barcodes of some of the holiday-themed gift cards and is just scanning the picture at the check out. I think I am going to use my $300 gift card to purchase several different themes of gift cards in smaller amounts. I would just cash out for Disney cards but we don't currently have a trip planned.

Edit: Just saw the above about needing the pin number to check out. I wonder if there's a way around that.

 

[supersnoop]

So glad Target is fixing this for you quickly.

Just out of curiosity, what kind (theme) of gift card did you purchase? I am wondering if maybe someone took a picture of the barcodes of some of the holiday-themed gift cards and is just scanning the picture at the check out. I think I am going to use my $300 gift card to purchase several different themes of gift cards in smaller amounts. I would just cash out for Disney cards but we don't currently have a trip planned.

Edit: Just saw the above about needing the pin number to check out. I wonder if there's a way around that.

I've never needed the pin to check out.

 

[robinb]

I've never needed the pin to check out.

I used gift cards to buy gift cards when they were 10% off. I did not need my pin code. It would be very easy for people to take a photo of the back of the gift card and then scan that photo later off their phone. It won't even look strange for them to be doing that since you can scan gift cards off the Target app on your phone. I just checked all my Target cards and they are all a-ok. I found the Target ad scan for next week and there is not $5 gift card deal for buying gift cards so I'll cash out ASAP.

 

[MichelleB]

I've never needed the pin to check out.

Someone said they were being used via mobile and for that they need a pin, don't they?

 

[sunflare]

Someone said they were being used via mobile and for that they need a pin, don't they?

In order to enter it into the mobile app, I thought so. I remember needing it before, but that was a while ago. It may have changed.

I know you dont need the PIN to use it once it's entered, though, so that's where the confusion might be.

 

[robinb]

In order to enter it into the mobile app, I thought so. I remember needing it before, but that was a while ago. It may have changed.

I know you dont need the PIN to use it once it's entered, though, so that's where the confusion might be.

You do need the access code to add a gift card to the mobile app (I just tried). It could be that they were using it on their mobile PHONE but not the mobile APP. I'm looking at my gift cards in my mobile app and it wouldn't be too hard to mock up something that looks like a Target app gift card using a photo of the bar code off the back of the card. FWIW, When I use a gift card off the app at the store they just scan my phone.

 

[sunflare]

You do need the access code to add a gift card to the mobile app (I just tried). It could be that they were not using it on their mobile PHONE but not the mobile APP. I'm looking at my gift cards in my mobile app and it wouldn't be too hard to mock up something that looks like a Target app gift card using a photo of the bar code off the back of the card. FWIW, When I use a gift card off the app at the store they just scan my phone.

That totally sounds possible. And kind of scary, as there's not much that can stop that. Hmmm....

 

[Lain]

You do need the access code to add a gift card to the mobile app (I just tried). It could be that they were using it on their mobile PHONE but not the mobile APP. I'm looking at my gift cards in my mobile app and it wouldn't be too hard to mock up something that looks like a Target app gift card using a photo of the bar code off the back of the card. FWIW, When I use a gift card off the app at the store they just scan my phone.

Personally, I've screenshotted the gift card barcodes as they appear on my Target mobile app so that I can scan them in a Photos tab when I need the Target app for something else (e.g. price matching). There's nothing special about the app; the register just wants to scan a barcode.

I can totally imagine someone took photos of physical gift cards in store -- especially before a big sale on them -- and then tried their luck with scanning the pics of the barcodes on 12/5.

I've read on one of those finance blogs that it's been suggested to retailers to put their gift cards behind the registers precisely to prevent this kind of scam. Out of caution, I always grab gift cards from the middle-back of the rack and always check that the silver scratch is intact.

 

[MermaidMommy]

I used gift cards to buy gift cards when they were 10% off. I did not need my pin code. It would be very easy for people to take a photo of the back of the gift card and then scan that photo later off their phone. It won't even look strange for them to be doing that since you can scan gift cards off the Target app on your phone. I just checked all my Target cards and they are all a-ok. I found the Target ad scan for next week and there is not $5 gift card deal for buying gift cards so I'll cash out ASAP.

That's disappointing. I was crossing my fingers for the $5 deal. I guess I'll go ahead and convert my Target gift cards, too.

 

[mich311e]

Personally, I've screenshotted the gift card barcodes as they appear on my Target mobile app so that I can scan them in a Photos tab when I need the Target app for something else (e.g. price matching). There's nothing special about the app; the register just wants to scan a barcode.

I can totally imagine someone took photos of physical gift cards in store -- especially before a big sale on them -- and then tried their luck with scanning the pics of the barcodes on 12/5.

I've read on one of those finance blogs that it's been suggested to retailers to put their gift cards behind the registers precisely to prevent this kind of scam. Out of caution, I always grab gift cards from the middle-back of the rack and always check that the silver scratch is intact.

I can definitely see how this is possible. I bought 3 gift cards for Christmas gifts when they were 10% off. I'm wondering if I should check the balances now, would have to scratch the silver, before I give them as gifts?

 

[starry_solo]

My experience today:

I decided to convert some of the Target GCs into Disney GCs today, Target in Riverside, CA.

All the check out lines were full so I went to check the self-checkout lanes to see if there were any restrictions for checking out a gift card (some say no alcohol sales) and there were none.

I brought my own bag (saved 5-cents) and checked out some Disney GCs. I went to pay with the Target GC and it took off the funds off the gift card. As soon as I did that, a Target employee manning the self-checkout desk approached and said that I couldn't use a gift card to purchase a gift card. She said it was corporate policy due to fraud. I showed her that it had taken off the money and she tried to cancel the sale by pushing the "go back" button, but it wouldn't let her. So she said she would let it go "this time.

 

[gottalovepluto]

My experience today:

I decided to convert some of the Target GCs into Disney GCs today, Target in Riverside, CA.

All the check out lines were full so I went to check the self-checkout lanes to see if there were any restrictions for checking out a gift card (some say no alcohol sales) and there were none.

I brought my own bag (saved 5-cents) and checked out some Disney GCs. I went to pay with the Target GC and it took off the funds off the gift card. As soon as I did that, a Target employee manning the self-checkout desk approached and said that I couldn't use a gift card to purchase a gift card. She said it was corporate policy due to fraud. I showed her that it had taken off the money and she tried to cancel the sale by pushing the "go back" button, but it wouldn't let her. So she said she would let it go "this time.

She's a bit on her high horse! Here, I'm gonna take your product away from you that you just purchased. At least you're nice, if a teller had done that to me on the wrong day there would have been some words exchanged I would have later regretted while being possibly escorted by a Target rent-a-cop because I would have taken my gift cards and left the Target associate to decide if they would try to physically prevent me from leaving- what a mess I would have gotten myself into! Your way was definitely better!

 

[mich311e]

My experience today:

I decided to convert some of the Target GCs into Disney GCs today, Target in Riverside, CA.

All the check out lines were full so I went to check the self-checkout lanes to see if there were any restrictions for checking out a gift card (some say no alcohol sales) and there were none.

I brought my own bag (saved 5-cents) and checked out some Disney GCs. I went to pay with the Target GC and it took off the funds off the gift card. As soon as I did that, a Target employee manning the self-checkout desk approached and said that I couldn't use a gift card to purchase a gift card. She said it was corporate policy due to fraud. I showed her that it had taken off the money and she tried to cancel the sale by pushing the "go back" button, but it wouldn't let her. So she said she would let it go "this time.

A few weeks ago I tried to buy Disney GCs with my Target GCs at Self Checkout. It did not go well! It ended up freezing up the computer and the whole thing had to be reset. Then I had zero balances on the GCs I had scanned already. Had to wait about 30 minutes, then went to customer service where the rep that was helping me at self checkout was working. Still no balance! Then she manually credited the balance back. I then went to regular checkout and got my Disney GCs just fine. Lesson learned - I won't use self checkout for GCs again.