Use Caution When Giving Gift Cards This Holiday Season

  
 
The Better Business Bureau urges you to do some research before you purchase a gift card for a loved one this season.

Better Business Bureau officials receive complaints each year where a scammer obtains the numbers from the back of the gift card by removing the protective stickers and records them. By the time a person buys the gift card and the recipient attempts to use the card, there are no funds on the card.

Officials ask that you buy a gift card from a known and trusted source. Avoid online auction sites as cards sold there could be counterfeit or fraudulently obtained. Verify that no protective stickers have been removed and that the codes on the back of the card haven’t been scratched off to reveal a PIN. If possible, ask for a card from behind the counter.

If you buy a retail gift card, include the original receipt in case the card is later lost or stolen.