[WTB] Gift Cards purchased with stolen credit cards

[Ryan]

Hello all,

In the past year or so we've an increasing number of cases where gift cards have been purchased using stolen credit cards. Often times, the cards will appear to work for a little while before being flagged by the retailer as fraudulent.

If you have purchased a fraudulent card, we advise you to get in touch with the police as soon as possible. There are active and ongoing investigations into these scammers and the police take this very seriously as these are not one off scams.

Remember the old adage: if seems too good to be true, it probably is. Gift cards are like cash, so if someone is selling one for 40% off, you should definitely be careful.

Regards,

Ryan

[ClassChanMan]

I plan to buy a gift card discounted so I can save some cash for my next big purchase at Best Buy. I am hoping to spend it all so there is no change of "fraud" or anything fishy the next time I use it. (I'm going to go with the guy)

However, what happens if I bought the item ... a couple of days later they find out that the gift cards were bought with stolen credit cards (they worked though)? Since they probably asked me for my contact information ... (I want any warranties on my product) What will happen? Will the police come and take away my purchase?

[kamikazi]

yeah thats a question i am wondering as well, what would happen if you made the purchase with the giftcard right away

[Ryan]

I plan to buy a gift card discounted so I can save some cash for my next big purchase at Best Buy. I am hoping to spend it all so there is no change of "fraud" or anything fishy the next time I use it. (I'm going to go with the guy)

However, what happens if I bought the item ... a couple of days later they find out that the gift cards were bought with stolen credit cards (they worked though)? Since they probably asked me for my contact information ... (I want any warranties on my product) What will happen? Will the police come and take away my purchase?

They will probably ask you to either return the item or pay for it in cash. The police may or may not contact you. The bigger the purchase, the more likely the police will become involved, I would assume.

[VANTIS]

They will probably ask you to either return the item or pay for it in cash.

that seems pretty unreasonable. thats like paying for the item twice...it shouldnt be my problem the gift card happened to be stolen since most of the time the card is legit...

[Steven91]

that seems pretty unreasonable. thats like paying for the item twice...it shouldnt be my problem the gift card happened to be stolen since most of the time the card is legit...

Sorry to break it to you, but law is how it is.

If you are in possession of something stolen, you are most of the time in BIG trouble... from what I learned in law, Possession of stolen property can be almost the same as being the ones who stole it.

If you can prove that you purchased the gift card from another person, you will be asked to prove this, once you can tag the charges onto the seller then they can do lots of things:
1) Forward the fees and charges to the seller
2) Take the item back or ask you to pay for it upfront and the seller will pay you back.
3) etc...

Just put it this way, if you bought a stolen vehicle and was unaware that it was stolen and the police pull you over and find the vehicle was stolen. You will be charged at the scene for position of a stolen vehicle on the spot.

This is because there is no way they can trust your word. Who knows if you actually bought the vehicle or not.

If you wish to bring this to reason,
Is it reasonable for the Company to accept being defrauded with fake credit card and take the loss in profit just because it was unfair that you bought something at a big discount due to illegitimate means? The company is NOT at fault for accepting a credit card, especially if they were unaware that it was stolen, business is business.

[need4greed]

I plan to buy a gift card discounted so I can save some cash for my next big purchase at Best Buy. I am hoping to spend it all so there is no change of "fraud" or anything fishy the next time I use it. (I'm going to go with the guy)

However, what happens if I bought the item ... a couple of days later they find out that the gift cards were bought with stolen credit cards (they worked though)? Since they probably asked me for my contact information ... (I want any warranties on my product) What will happen? Will the police come and take away my purchase?

If the purchase was made entirely on GC, or that you pay for any shortfall with cash, the retailer will not know of your identify. Any warrantly information is likely between you and the manufacturer and I doubt they would be able to trace back to you.

[5abi]

If the purchase was made entirely on GC, or that you pay for any shortfall with cash, the retailer will not know of your identify. Any warrantly information is likely between you and the manufacturer and I doubt they would be able to trace back to you.

they have cameras in the store too

[nuberific]

I just realized this thread reads as:

WTB: Gift Cards purchased with stolen credit cards

I thought that was mildly funny.

[5dark]

If you verify the gift card has been active for over, say a few months, would that help you gauge if the card was bought fraudulently or not?

[jigz2k3]

when ever i sell or buy a gift card, I always take the seller/buyer to the store, to verify the balance... if the seller or the buyer does not want to go to the store to check the balance, then it's fishy...

[redkid]

Buying GC's @discounted price is great
but it's hard to make sure they're legit
rfd feedback is a good start...
if none, well depending on how badly the seller wants to meet, if he's pushy, gives 2 much discount and is willing to drop even more

by looking at him you might catch the lie on his eyes
i've met these scammers and from my experience they're usually younger, drive old cars and dress up like scammers. they also talk big like scammers (i guess after meeting a few you kinda reliaze)

if you can have a conversation, arrange to meet at the store itself and if possible, do the purchase you want in front of him

cell phone #'s are good (do not just email)
never be scared to back out of a deal last minute,you might not save that 15% but you might not lose the 85%

be careful specially with cards from tim hortons card, gas station or big box stores like futureshop/bestbuy and bay

[kellie0105]

I got word of my store of a man doing several thousand dollars worth of fraudulent PC gift cards for prepaid visa's. They looked completely legit and everything matched up. Even if it comes back legit one time does not mean they will come back legit every time, the cards came back fraudulent after a month. We do a program there where if you buy something lik e$2000 in PC gift cards you earn $20 or something like that and a lot of hockey teams have been using it as fundraisers and trading them for what they really wanted in gift cards (like if they decided to go buy a tv at best buy, or home reno's through home depot since we sell these gift cards as well). If you get caught with a stolen gift card, even if you had no idea, its not up to the police at that time to make a decision on whos fault it was, thats up to the court. Police get next to no training on that sort of stuff, just procedures to follow. But if you did legit buy something from somewhere you should have some sort of paper trail to follow and prove your innocence. Kinda sucks but thats the risk you take when buying. I'm not even sure what my store would do if a fraudulent card actually came through, we know they have and I honestly think they would just cancel the card and let the customer do the work to figure out what happened. (I.E. calling into customer service head office). I don't think they would actually arrest anyone unless they had been flagged previously as doing so or word from another store to watch out for so and so but I could be wrong.

[freerider_4life]

I just realized this thread reads as:

WTB: Gift Cards purchased with stolen credit cards

I thought that was mildly funny.

That's what made me click lol

[vErYdEeP1]

I sold Heavy T.O.tickets i won..for only 170.00 and the worth was 324.00...and now i won a 500.00 gift card for lolewomen..from face book contest and i am selling it for 300.00 or best offer..its a win win sitution for us both..hope people dont think mine not true..Just hoping to sell fast..