Gift card hacking -- Merry Xmas!

[Raptor]

I went into target in horror today, to see that every gift card in the store, had packaging around it, preventing the number from being read without tearing it open. I went over and picked one up, and asked the cashier what the minimum amount you had to put on the card was. He asked his manager and determined it was one cent. So I had him get me 10 gift cards with 1 cent on them each. He activated them by sliding the magnetic strip into the reader, which then had all of the card info on it. Could they have caught on to the gift card haxers?

[nb7899]

I think I'm going to go into Target and have them get me 200 one-cent gift cards.  Then I'm going to walk back in in like a minute and buy a pack of gum with them.

[Colonel Panic]

It sounds more like laziness/idiocy on behalf of the cashiers than cleverness on behalf of the people taking advantage of this scam.

Isn't that usually the case?

[Raptor]

I think I'm going to go into Target and have them get me 200 one-cent gift cards.  Then I'm going to walk back in in like a minute and buy a pack of gum with them.

And the sad thing is they are still making money off those gift cards...

[BillCancer]

1 cent at a time tho

[PHISH-PHREAK]

well no think about it. It has to cost more than one cent to make a card.

[Raptor]

well no think about it. It has to cost more than one cent to make a card.

especially the one's I bought with the cool hologram logo!
..unless they are using radioactive nuclrear bi-products to make their plastics...

[Idontlikerabbits]

I read about a scam with the Target cards where you just write down the account numbers off the cards on display.  Then, once the cards were activated by a customer, you shop online.  If you shop online using a gift card, they don't ask for ID and they'll just ship the items to your house.  Or wherever you choose to have it shipped.

http://web.archive.org/web/20031014015530/telecom-munist.phonelosers.org/LOC006.txt

One of the only useful articles published in the zine. I'm suprised this is the first time I've heard of anything like this being in the news.

[Colonel Panic]

I just read that retailers profit in the millions each year from unclaimed gift cards.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=2733206

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2007/01/01/daily7.html

[Raptor]

Bastards..thats why I always make sure they don't expire, or become void when they become evidence in a murder case. 

There are also sites on the web where you can buy,sell, and trade gift cards. So if you ever get a "bed bath and beyond" and wish you had "best buy" or something, make sure to look them up. (there are a few out there)

[Dr P4nyk]

People also scam quite a bit with gift cards.  I heard a story where a lady brought a guy into Home Depot and asked one of the checkers to see how much credit was on a gift card.  The checker told him that it had $75.  The guy came in later and tried to use the card that he had bought off of her for $60 and it only had $10.  Apparently she had swapped the $75 card for a $10 and sold it to him for $60. 

P4nyk