Buying a gift card this holiday? Cyber security expert warns of ‘card draining’ scam
December 19, 2023 – Published on KXAN NBC Austin
Gift cards are a popular and convenient present this holiday season but buyers should beware. Cyber security experts say thieves are targeting gift cards with a scam called card draining.
“Oftentimes, scammers will replace a barcode on the back of a card with a card they have. So while we’re buying that card, we think we’re adding value to the card we’re buying. And we’re actually adding value to a scammers card,” explained cyber security expert Chris Peltz with Guidepoint Security.
“Another popular scam is stealing the card information off a card, putting it back on the shelf,” said Peltz.
“So when we purchase and add value to that card, they can quickly use that value before our recipient gets it.”
Peltz said it’s a popular scam this time of year.
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