Esso Gift Card - Balance Used/Scam

[Tilter]

I purchased an Esso $50 Gift Card from Shoppers Drug Mart to be given as a gift. Once I gave the gift card, the person tried to use it and said there was no balance. After getting the gift card number and PIN I noticed that the funds were used a week after the purchase, while it was still in my possession. Is there an Esso Gift Card scam going around? Where someone can go to Shoppers and take a picture of the Gift Card Number and PIN and then able to use the funds at an Esso by providing that information?

I'm not sure what to do, Esso could blame it on Shoppers and Shoppers could blame it on Esso.

[gill1234]

I wouldn't be surprised, gas prices keep going up and up.

[XxXSnake23XxX]

Probably a scam. I saw on the news that Starbucks gift cards can be cracked as well. Probably something similar in your Esso situation.

[enforcerviper]

Its SDM. They have a GC problem. I bought a $250 Mastercard giftcard which was scammed and used by a cleaning company. It took 5 months to get they money back from the GC company after they investigated the fraud.

Never Again.

[Tilter]

****, alright. Guess I'll call up Esso GC tomorrow and see what they say.

[ilove]

Is the PIN protected by those scratch coatings?

[Tilter]

Is the PIN protected by those scratch coatings?

Nope, they are all open. So anyone can see the Gift Card Number + PIN, but i'm not sure how they could redeem it, unless they claim it was lost/stolen and request a replacement from Esso.

[YippoHippo]

Nope, they are all open. So anyone can see the Gift Card Number + PIN, but i'm not sure how they could redeem it, unless they claim it was lost/stolen and request a replacement from Esso.

Well, If anyone can see it. Then is must be someone from SDM.

They could write down the card number and pin. When they see someone purchasing one. They test all of them, until they found it.

[Tilter]

Well, If anyone can see it. Then is must be someone from SDM.

They could write down the card number and pin. When they see someone purchasing one. They test all of them, until they found it.

But you could also blame it on Esso for not having scratch coating on the gift card and also allowing the funds to be used without the actual card.

[LondonOntGuy]

Probably a scam. I saw on the news that Starbucks gift cards can be cracked as well. Probably something similar in your Esso situation.

Here's a video on that, from CTV's Ottawa station.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20111125/starbucks-gift-cards-111125/

[Tilter]

Here's a video on that, from CTV's Ottawa station.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20111125/starbucks-gift-cards-111125/

Yah, it's such an easy thing to do, I could have figured that out. I wonder if other stores have mobile apps similar to Starbuck's.

Anyhow, I talked to Esso and they said they'll investigate and said it's happened before. They issued me an Esso Extrapoints card with enough points for $50 worth of gas or to purchase a new gift card.

[Arrgh]

This must be what happened to my Esso GCs bought at SDM. I bought several. Then there were a couple that when I tried to use, it had no money left. After I use a card I usually wrap the card with the receipt from the pump, so I can see how much is left. When the card is used up, I throw it away. So the first time I had one that said no money, I thought maybe I forgot to get the receipt to wrap around. When it happened again, that's when I suspect something not right.

I tried to call Esso, couldn't get through to anyone that can tell me when the card was used, where.

[Becks]

Well, If anyone can see it. Then is must be someone from SDM.

They could write down the card number and pin. When they see someone purchasing one. They test all of them, until they found it.

It depends where the gift card was in-store. If it is located somewhere in-store where any customer can just copy the numbers and PINS, then you can't accuse a SDM employee. It is safer to get the gift cards if they are behind the counter, though cleaning staff could easily copy those gift card numbers down. Anyways, the scammers just keep checking online to see if the cards have been activated, and then clean out the funds. No scammer has to "see" a customer buying the gift cards in order to check.

[morpheus_1987]

Isn't the card # useless unless they have something like the mobile app in the Starbucks situation to create something usable? It would be so suspicious to make a purchase with just the gift card # without the gift card.

This worries me since we've stocked up on some gas cards to maximize the Smart Cash gas and groceries rebates during the first 6 months. Hopefully, Esso can resolve your dilemma.

[brunes]

Nope, they are all open. So anyone can see the Gift Card Number + PIN, but i'm not sure how they could redeem it, unless they claim it was lost/stolen and request a replacement from Esso.

If the PIN and card number can be read then the card can be cloned for like $0.05. You can buy the machine from DealExtreme to do this for like $30, it is not rocket science. This is why the PIN is supposed to be behind a scratch off coating.

Shame on SDM for using this card supplier.

On another note, this is another reason why it is stupid to give gift cards. Just give cash, and this can not happen.

[Tilter]

You never expect gift card cloning until it happens to you. It's like those people who clone debit cards and set up camera's to capture your PIN.

I was PM'ing another member, and so far it has happened in Gift Cards purchased at SDMs along Leslie in the North York area.

[Kuurgen]

I know this may be off topic, but I went to use a visa gift card we had sitting around. it was for $25 and as i checked the balance I saw that service charges had eaten $20 of it.
I also would like to know how to get .20 balances off these cards without having to run them through paypal.

[wysiwyg]

Visa and other "credit card" branded gift cards have an inactivity fee that kicks in after 6 months. So if you don't use it quickly, it will drop to zero in no time. There are other fees such as calling and speaking to a human for a balance check! Regular store gift cards don't have inactivity fees nor expire.