Raise Giftcards being used up on target website?

[valerie160]

Is this a Raise issue or a target issue?

I purchased several hundred dollars of target giftcards on raise in April. Today I went to purchase a few disney giftcards online. I still had about $15 left over on one of my target giftcard that I purchased from Raise. Went back to buy some more giftcards about 5 minutes later and the credit card is drained. It is saying I have a $0 balance.

Another thing that happened is that I recently uploaded all of the target cards I purchased from Raise to my target App yesterday (I had asked how to combine them to purchase the disney giftcards at the target store since it didn't look like they were going to be in stock anytime soon) and today I went to target to buy the disney giftcards and couldn't find my giftcards on the app. Came home to see what was going on, and one of my giftcards (it had a 2000 balance) had been almost completely drained. I called raise and they are refunding me the money, but I'm scared to use Raise or Target online again.

Is this common? Has this happened to anyone else? Or is my credit card, raise account and/or target account now compromised?

 

[davper]

This is an issue with Raise. They are great about refunding your your money when it happens. But you never hold a balance on a card you buy on Raise or any other reseller. As soon as you get it, you convert to another card.

 

[Marionnette]

Is this a Raise issue or a target issue?

I purchased several hundred dollars of target giftcards on raise in April. Today I went to purchase a few disney giftcards online. I still had about $15 left over on one of my target giftcard that I purchased from Raise. Went back to buy some more giftcards about 5 minutes later and the credit card is drained. It is saying I have a $0 balance.

Another thing that happened is that I recently uploaded all of the target cards I purchased from Raise to my target App yesterday (I had asked how to combine them to purchase the disney giftcards at the target store since it didn't look like they were going to be in stock anytime soon) and today I went to target to buy the disney giftcards and couldn't find my giftcards on the app. Came home to see what was going on, and one of my giftcards (it had a 2000 balance) had been almost completely drained. I called raise and they are refunding me the money, but I'm scared to use Raise or Target online again.

Is this common? Has this happened to anyone else? Or is my credit card, raise account and/or target account now compromised?

I've heard stories of people having their money drained from GCs added to their app. Not from anyone on here, but on another website where there can be trolls disseminating misinformation just to stir things up. So, I'm not sure how much credence to give to those reports. However, I never add GCs to Target .com or to the app until I'm ready to actually use them since I'm fearful that those accounts could somehow get hacked. In fact, I won't even check a Target GC balance online because the website adds the GC to your Target .com account. I enter the GCs into Android pay and then add them to the Target app while I'm in the store (because the self checkout won't read the Android Pay bar code).

When it comes to Raise, I've been burned more than once with a GC getting drained before I could use it. One GC was drained moments after I received the codes! Raise had always been very good about refunding the money. However, it was just getting to be too much stress worrying about whether a GC I purchased was actually going to work or not, so I stopped buying eGCs and I rarely buy physical GCs anymore.

So, it could have been Raise or it could have been Target. Raise has much better customer service and you're within the 100 days guarantee, so going to them over the missing funds was your best option. Dealing with Target customer service is like dealing with your cable provider...an exercise in futility.

 

[Marionnette]

Following up with a link to an article which was published earlier this year.
http://elliott.org/problem-solved/help-target-gift-card-zeroed/

Note that the consumer had registered the physical GC with Target .com and she depleted the balance on the card. Later, she combined several smaller GCs and added them to that card. At some point after that, the money was drained from the GC via an internet purchase. And Target's only answer was to contact her local police, which was basically not an answer at all.

 

[valerie160]

As of today I think I'm done buying eGC's from raise (though to their credit, they were awesome about refunding the money without hassle), but the stress wasn't worth it! I was shaking because it was so much money. I have done the raise to target thing a few times but always purchase the disney giftcards from target within minutes of purchasing off of raise, but because they were out online the target giftcards kind of sat there for a while. I was very nervous about it just sitting there...and unfortunately my worst fears were realized today.

Thank you for the tidbit about the target app. If I use it in the future, I'll be sure to add right it right at the store right before purchasing my items. There are just too many variables and too many ways to get hacked these days.

 

[StuckInKS]

Today I went to purchase a few disney giftcards online...I recently uploaded all of the target cards I purchased from Raise to my target App yesterday

This is an issue with Raise.

Maybe not. If she had her cards all this time, added the cards to the app yesterday (still with balances) and then they were drained by today, then it might very well be that someone hacked into the Target app. I know cards DO get drained from places like Raise, but with the sequence of events, I'd look more at the Target app.

ETA: @Marionnette IIRC there was a lady over on the GC thread who bought several thousand worth from Cardpool who had her cards drained after adding them to the app. Even though they were all spent at one Target, Cardpool told her they were sold to them by different sellers. Another poster said one of her relatives (a sister maybe?) had it happen to her after adding card bought directly from Target to her app. So, we have had some instances on here. I honestly, don't think the app is very secure

 

[ellie05]

I am going to go with this is a target issue I highly doubt it $2000 in target gc was sell to raise by the same seller for it to all be drained. I had this problem with target for a egc that I send to my sister it was drained when I sister went to use it. Target dos refund the money because it literally when from me to her and a day later the funds were gone by someone in CA we both live in the east coast.

I always try to get physical gc from resellers immediately when I get them I transfer the amounts to new gc and never ever leave a gc with a balance link to target. I have gone to the store to split money between gc to have the exact amount of money for the online purchase so I don't leave the info online.