Standfirst: Gift cards are a top holiday gift — and a top holiday scam. Thieves drain cards before they are even bought, and scammers pressure victims to pay with gift cards. Both tricks are easy to spot once you know the signs, and both are avoidable.
How drained gift cards work
The trick: a thief takes a gift card from a store rack, records or copies the card number and PIN, carefully reseals the packaging, and puts the card back. When an honest shopper buys and loads that card, the thief — who is monitoring the balance — spends the money before the recipient ever uses it.
Why it works: the card looks untouched, because the packaging has been resealed. The victim only discovers the problem when the recipient tries to spend the card and finds a zero balance, often weeks later, long after the purchase receipt is gone.
Why the holidays are peak season: gift-card sales surge in November and December, which means more cards on racks, more shoppers in a hurry, and more opportunities for tampering to go unnoticed. Scammers know this, and they plan for it.
What to check before you buy a gift card
Inspect the packaging: look for torn, scratched, or resealed packaging, a PIN that is already exposed, or a card that looks worn or bent. If anything looks off, choose a different card from the back of the rack, or ask a store employee for a fresh one.
Buy from behind the counter when you can: cards kept behind a counter, or activated at the register from a secure display, are harder to tamper with than cards sitting on an open rack. For large amounts, this small step is worth the extra minute.
Keep the receipt: the purchase receipt, with the card number and activation details, is your proof if something goes wrong. Keep it until the recipient confirms the card works, and tell the recipient to check the balance promptly rather than saving the card for months.
The other gift-card scam: payment demands
The rule that never changes: no legitimate company, government agency, utility, or bank will ever ask you to pay a bill, a fine, a tax, or a fee with a gift card. If anyone does, it is a scam — no matter how official they sound, and no matter what caller ID they use.
Common versions: a caller claiming to be from the IRS or a utility company, threatening disconnection or arrest unless you buy gift cards; a message claiming your account is locked and can only be unlocked with a gift-card payment; a fake tech-support agent asking for gift cards to fix a virus. All of these follow the same script.
Why gift cards appeal to scammers: gift-card payments are hard to trace and hard to reverse, unlike a bank transfer or a card payment that can be disputed. Once the codes are read out over the phone, the money is usually gone within minutes.
What to do if a card is drained or you were scammed
Act fast: contact the gift-card issuer using the number on the back of the card or on its official website, and report the problem with your receipt in hand. Some issuers can freeze a balance or investigate, but speed matters — the longer you wait, the less likely recovery becomes.
Report it: in the United States, report gift-card scams to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and to your local police if money was lost. Reporting helps authorities track scam patterns, even if your individual loss cannot be recovered.
Tell the recipient: if you gave the card as a gift, tell the recipient what happened and share the receipt details, so they can also contact the issuer. Do not buy a replacement card from the same rack without checking it carefully first.
Safer ways to give
Digital gift cards: buying a gift card directly from a company’s official website or app, and sending it by email to the recipient, avoids the tampered-rack problem entirely. The card is delivered digitally, with no physical packaging to reseal.
Buy direct, not third-party: if you buy in person, prefer the brand’s own store or a trusted retailer, and avoid buying gift cards from online marketplaces or individuals, where counterfeit or already-drained cards are far more common.
Check the balance early: whether you give or receive a card, check the balance within a few days of purchase. Early checking catches drained cards while the receipt is still handy and the store can still help.
If you receive a gift card
Check it right away: recipients often save gift cards for a special purchase, which is understandable, but waiting months to check the balance makes a drained card much harder to resolve. A quick balance check in the first few days, using the issuer’s official website or phone number, confirms the card works while the giver still has the receipt. If the balance is wrong, tell the giver immediately and ask them to contact the store or issuer with the receipt. Keep the card and its packaging until the balance is confirmed, because the issuer may ask for the card number, PIN, and purchase details to investigate.
What we know / What to keep in mind
What is settled: drained-card tampering and gift-card payment-demand scams are well-documented by the FTC and consumer-protection agencies, and they spike during the holiday shopping season.
What this guide is not: this is general consumer information, not financial advice, and it does not replace the terms of any specific gift-card issuer. If a card’s terms differ from the general guidance here, follow the issuer’s terms and contact the issuer directly.
The bottom line: inspect the card, keep the receipt, check the balance early, and never pay anyone with a gift card. Four habits, and the most common holiday gift-card scams lose their power.
Related Daily Trend USA coverage: How to Spot a Phishing Text Before You Tap It, How to Spot a Fake Online Store Before Holiday Shopping, and How to Protect Holiday Packages From Porch Pirates.
Sources: guidance consistent with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s consumer advice on gift-card scams and drained gift cards, November 2026.
