INDIANAPOLIS — They're the most convenient gift of the holiday season: gift cards. And, they're becoming more and more popular.
"My wife bought ten $50 gift cards and, at the time, I bought three $50 gift cards," said Robert Shaffer.
Schaffer and his wife Kathy purchased Target gift cards at the Plainfield store as Christmas gifts for their family.
"Our daughter in Cleveland called and said Robbie, who's the oldest grandson in Cleveland, went through the checkout counter and said the card didn't work," said Shaffer.
Shaffer texted his daughter Ashley in St. Louis and asked if she had a card.
"She said yes. Everybody else's has worked," said Shaffer.
The Shaffers grew angry and confused as to how this could happen.
The couple went back to the Plainfield Target and spoke with a manager.
"He came back and said the two cards in question show that they've been used online. How could they be used online when they sat at our house and they got sent to Cleveland? How did they get used?" said Shaffer.
Experts say scammers go undetected and take gift cards off the shelf. They then remove the security tape on the back, take a photo or write down the activation code, and then replace the security tape with something similar to make it look authentic.
Scammers can also print out their own fake bar codes and place them over the real bar code. When you purchase the card, the fake bar code is scanned and your money gets routed into the scammer's account.
In an email to 13News, Target spokesperson Brian Harper-Tibaldo said they are "aware of the prevalence of gift card scams and take these crimes very seriously."
Harper-Tibaldo went on to say Target employees are educated about common scams and "look for guests purchasing high dollar amounts or large quantities of gift cards, or those who tamper with gift cards in stores."
The Shaffers say they want answers.
"How did security not see these people doing this with some kind of a mechanism or some kind of a smartphone scanning the information on the back of the card?" said Shaffer.
Shaffer said he even put in the gift card and access number for the gift card in the Target app. He said the site prompted him to enter a valid gift card number.
"It's the number right off the back of the card, so to me that says it's an invalid card and it was never activated, but yet they got their $50," said Shaffer.
The Shaffers checked the back of the gift cards and say they had the silver scratch-off film and the black bullseye.
"She and I are out $150 and I've got two grandkids that don't have Christmas gifts from us yet, so that's the disgusting part of the whole thing and the fact that we're not getting any quick answers from Target is disappointing as well," said Shaffer.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, both the number of reported gift card scams and total losses have increased every year since 2018.
In the first nine months of 2021, the FTC cited over twice as much money was reported lost on Target gift cards than any other brand.
Target lost $35 million.
Google Play gift cards were next at $17 million, followed by Apple, eBay, and Walmart cards.
Target's website encourages shoppers to check gift cards before they buy them.
Make sure the protective stickers are on the card and that they do not appear to have been tampered with.
Also, check that the PIN number on the back isn't showing. Get a different card if you spot a problem.
Keep your receipt. This, or the card's ID number, will help you file a report if you lose the gift card.
The Shaffers are hoping for a better outcome.
"We purchase the cards on our Target Red Card, so we're going to dispute the charges, but we doubt that anything good is going to happen from that," said Shaffer.
Here's Target's full statement:
"We are aware of the prevalence of gift card scams and take these crimes very seriously. We have signs in our stores and share general safety tips with our team members so they can stay alert and help guests as best as they can at our registers. Our centralized cyber fraud and abuse team helps educate our team members about common scams and encourages them to look for guests purchasing high dollar amounts or large quantities of gift cards, or tampering with gift cards in stores. Guests who believe they have been victims of fraud should contact our guest relations team at 1-800-440-0680." - Brian Harper-Tibaldo.