E-gift cards from Employer Hacked

[WDWorld2003]

My spouse received an incentive award from his employer. We decided to use the funds for two separate Disney gift cards of $250 each for a total of $500 in February of this year. I went to use them this week and the funds are gone. I contacted the Disney Gift card team by phone and said they were transferred to an app on February 16th. I was told to email the gift card numbers, etc. which I did. They replied that once funds were spent they could not be replaced and to file a police report if I wanted to pursue the matter.

These cards were delivered by email... how could the funds have been stolen?

Last year my daughter received a $500 gift card through her employer and the same thing happened to her.

If this keeps happening to people why don't they have a two-step process in place to redeem the cards? I'm very frustrated by this and cannot believe people just keep getting away with it. Has anyone else had this happen and been able to get their funds returned?

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Oh man that's really bad sorry that's happened to you! Can I ask was this through one of those websites that employer's and institutions use to distribute gift cards and prepaid visas and stuff? Cause I've heard about people having very bad experiences with cards not having or just losing their value. Many of us buy gift cards to store for long periods of time and this is a scary thought that they may just be empty when you go to use them with little or no recourse. Sorry again I hope there's something someone can do besides who you already contacted?

 

[dioxide45]

From what I understand reading about this, in many cases they are just brute force "guessing" account numbers and PINs of the gift cards using bots. The online systems that allow them to check gift card balances without many checks makes this pretty easy. They can cycle through and check thousands of cards in an hour. Once they have a match if the system allows them to transfer the balance to another card or an account, they do that.

 

[WDWorld2003]

Oh man that's really bad sorry that's happened to you! Can I ask was this through one of those websites that employer's and institutions use to distribute gift cards and prepaid visas and stuff? Cause I've heard about people having very bad experiences with cards not having or just losing their value. Many of us buy gift cards to store for long periods of time and this is a scary thought that they may just be empty when you go to use them with little or no recourse. Sorry again I hope there's something someone can do besides who you already contacted?

It was a website that the employer used to distribute cards. They are also not responsible once funds have been used.

From what I understand reading about this, in many cases they are just brute force "guessing" account numbers and PINs of the gift cards using computer software. The online systems that allow them to check gift card balances without many checks makes this pretty easy. They can cycle through and check thousands of cards in an hour. Once they have a match if the system allows them to transfer the balance to another card or an account, they do that.

The interesting thing is they were both used at Disney online within 10 minutes of each other. They would give me that much information but will not track their use as it is not within their scope.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

So sorry about what happened. When I read the thread title I thought it was disneygiftcard site, but they do have two-factor authentication. But I signed in just to be sure of my card balances.

 

[WDWorld2003]

So sorry about what happened. When I read the thread title I thought it was disneygiftcard site, but they do have two-factor authentication. But I signed in just to be sure of my card balances.

I didn't realize that. I used the disneygiftcard site in the past but did not know they had changed to a two-step system. Lesson learned... I will transfer all of my cards in the future.

 

[gottalovepluto]

From what I understand reading about this, in many cases they are just brute force "guessing" account numbers and PINs of the gift cards using bots. The online systems that allow them to check gift card balances without many checks makes this pretty easy. They can cycle through and check thousands of cards in an hour. Once they have a match if the system allows them to transfer the balance to another card or an account, they do that.

Don’t think you can brute force guess DGCs anymore. I typed a PIN in wrong one time a month or two ago and Disney immediately locked the card and I had to call and verify I owned it and how I’d bought it. And that’s happened to others in the last couple months, think it’s what locked a card of mine in Dec right before my trip as well. So annoying because it’s 24–48 hours to unlock. I also say this wasn’t a brute force hack due to nobody outside these specific circumstances reporting being affected yet.

@WDWorld2003 I would change the title to something like e-GCs from employer hacked. You’ve seen 2 instances with the same circumstances and yet see no reports on it because it isn’t the Disney eGC system that was hacked, it’s the program the employers are using. The fact it’s used within minutes means somebody besides the intended recipient is getting access to the cards as soon as the program issues them. Maybe changing the title can warn people off using that program for DGCs.

 

[focusondisney]

It sounds like the fulfillment/ reward center has an issue. I hope employees are letting their companies know this is happening. What’s the point in giving your employees a reward gift they can never use or can be stolen from them. The companies should be working with the reward center to either improve security or offer different gifts.

 

[Rm4OneMore]

Don’t think you can brute force guess DGCs anymore. I typed a PIN in wrong one time a month or two ago and Disney immediately locked the card and I had to call and verify I owned it and how I’d bought it. And that’s happened to others in the last couple months, think it’s what locked a card of mine in Dec right before my trip as well. So annoying because it’s 24–48 hours to unlock. I also say this wasn’t a brute force hack due to nobody outside these specific circumstances reporting being affected yet.

@WDWorld2003 I would change the title to something like e-GCs from employer hacked. You’ve seen 2 instances with the same circumstances and yet see no reports on it because it isn’t the Disney eGC system that was hacked, it’s the program the employers are using. The fact it’s used within minutes means somebody besides the intended recipient is getting access to the cards as soon as the program issues them. Maybe changing the title can warn people off using that program for DGCs.

I had this same thing happen to me. I copied and pasted the EAN number of a digital gift card but only selected 7 of the 8 characters. It wasn't long before Disney locked the card. I had to their customer service who was able to tell me what happened and unlock it for me.

 

[MickeyP]

Thanks for the heads up.
1. Be careful when entering DGC number
and 2. Don't be frustrated when I get locked out.

It is a good safety measure to protect from theft. Good to know ahead of time.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

I'm so sorry that this happened to you.

It's happened to us more times that I can remember at this point. I still don't understand how it happens, but it's rampant here in Texas in the area that I live in.

Somehow between the issuer mailing, and us receiving, gift cards in the mail the money is gone. Poof. Vanilla Visa issuer was of no help back in 2015,16&17 when the money was wiped from gift cards mailed to my daughter for her birthday a few years in a row. Only one time was someone able to tell me that the funds were used for a local merchant - so I am guessing that it was someone local in our case.

When I buy gift cards now I put them on my account/s immediately. I only buy gift cards for gifts on the day before I give the cards to someone. It lessens the chance.

 

[WDWorld2003]

Don’t think you can brute force guess DGCs anymore. I typed a PIN in wrong one time a month or two ago and Disney immediately locked the card and I had to call and verify I owned it and how I’d bought it. And that’s happened to others in the last couple months, think it’s what locked a card of mine in Dec right before my trip as well. So annoying because it’s 24–48 hours to unlock. I also say this wasn’t a brute force hack due to nobody outside these specific circumstances reporting being affected yet.

@WDWorld2003 I would change the title to something like e-GCs from employer hacked. You’ve seen 2 instances with the same circumstances and yet see no reports on it because it isn’t the Disney eGC system that was hacked, it’s the program the employers are using. The fact it’s used within minutes means somebody besides the intended recipient is getting access to the cards as soon as the program issues them. Maybe changing the title can warn people off using that program for DGCs.

Thanks.... I changed the title. They were not used within minutes of receiving. They were used about 10 days later but the two gift cards were used within minutes of each other. I agree the Disney gift card system was not hacked but they are the ones who can tell where and who used them. My spouse is contacting the employer but I doubt there will be any resolution.

To add insult to injury we also are taxed on the gift cards

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thanks.... I changed the title. They were not used within minutes of receiving. They were used about 10 days later but the two gift cards were used within minutes of each other. I agree the Disney gift card system was not hacked but they are the ones who can tell where and who used them. My spouse is contacting the employer but I doubt there will be any resolution.

Disney can tell where, maybe who and definitely not if the who stole the funds. These cards are often sold after being stolen to an unsuspecting buyer just looking for a gift card deal through a 3rd party re-seller like Raise or similar.

Sorry you are unlikely to see your funds, that’s a lousy bonus for your DH’s hard work

 

[reddog21]

Disney can tell where, maybe who and definitely not if the who stole the funds. These cards are often sold after being stolen to an unsuspecting buyer just looking for a gift card deal through a 3rd party re-seller like Raise or similar.

Every gift card company can tell you when and where the card or number was used however it's treated as cash and they will almost never give you any type of compensation back. The gift card/end company really has no incentive to go after the money.

It still baffles me that so many people put a good amount of money on gift cards.

 

[WDWorld2003]

Thanks, everyone, for listening and giving good suggestions for using and saving gift cards in the future. We've never had this happen and have purchased and used many gift cards without incident, so this is a new experience for us. I just wish it had been for less money but also glad it wasn't more. I am surprised at how few safeguards there are.

The employer stated it has not happened to anyone else and they will check into it but we don't expect anything will be done. And as gottalovepluto said, it was probably sold to a third party.

 

[RivShore]

Thanks, everyone, for listening and giving good suggestions for using and saving gift cards in the future. We've never had this happen and have purchased and used many gift cards without incident, so this is a new experience for us. I just wish it had been for less money but also glad it wasn't more. I am surprised at how few safeguards there are.

The employer stated it has not happened to anyone else and they will check into it but we don't expect anything will be done. And as gottalovepluto said, it was probably sold to a third party.

I wonder if you are one of the few who went to use the gift card and that's why they haven't heard any other complaints. I'm sure they don't want to stir the hornets nest but a mass email to everyone who got one at that time asking them to confirm their balance, might be a good idea.

 

[tvguy]

I am so over gift cards. Cash only now for me.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I will still use Disney GC's and combine them on their site, I find it a good way, for us, to save for our trips. Over the years the $$ I saved by buying discounted GCs for WDW has paid for a trip. Of course that was counting years ago when I was normally saving 15%, now it's mainly 5% and once in awhile 10%.

 

[dpswift]

I will still use Disney GC's and combine them on their site, I find it a good way, for us, to save for our trips. Over the years the $$ I saved by buying discounted GCs for WDW has paid for a trip. Of course that was counting years ago when I was normally saving 15%, now it's mainly 5% and once in awhile 10%.

I too will continue to use gift cards, however I am nervous about the resellers. Once I gave my daughter a few gift cards that I was sure I hadn’t used and they were empty.

On a more positive note I once gave my daughter a $500 gift card to pay off the room. The money disappeared when the CM went to apply it. Disney could tell that it had been used at Coronado at the time was said it happened. It took 2 days and several phone calls but they credited us the money and gave us fast passes

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

I wonder if you are one of the few who went to use the gift card and that's why they haven't heard any other complaints. I'm sure they don't want to stir the hornets nest but a mass email to everyone who got one at that time asking them to confirm their balance, might be a good idea.

This. I purchase birthday gift cards for individuals in my office for my employer. When I go back in and look --almost none of the emloyees use their gift cards. They're just sitting out there unused...