Gift card hacking -- Merry Xmas!

[Colonel Panic]

Just saw this on the news. They say there's been a rash of gift card fraud this Christmas season.


Apparently, this is how the scammers are doing it:

They shoplift the pre-activated gift cards off the shelves. Since the cards are small, they're easy to steal.

Then they take the cards home and use a computer and a scanner to make counterfeit copies of them, or they simply copy the bar codes off the back of the cards and print out stickers, then stick the stickers onto expired cards.

They then place the counterfeit cards on the store shelf and wait for customers to buy/activate them, hoping that the cashiers will be too rushed to notice the counterfeit card. Even if the card is spotted as counterfeit, it would be an unwitting customer who catches the blame, not the fraudster.

After the cards have been activated, they use the original cards to buy stuff, possibly at a different location from where the cards were stolen.


I can't believe the stores are so stupid as to leave pre-activated gift cards out on open shelves, where anyone can pick them up and steal them. What would be the advantage to that kind of merchandising, as opposed to keeping them safely behind the cashier's counter to deter theft?

Now don't be a fucktard and go trying this. I saw it on the news so it's a safe bet that the store security are going to be on the lookout for this kind of activity, so be forewarned.

Also, you wouldn't want to wake up to a stocking full of coal on Christmas morning.

[gangals]

They aren't pre-activated. That's why you have to wait for a customer to purchase/add money to them...

[Colonel Panic]

You know what I mean.

They're being placed on shelves because the stores seem to have thye attitude that since they're not activated yet, there's no incentive to steal them.

[Raptor]

another note is that they have visa and Amex gift cards in $25 through $100 values in the stores in the same fashion.

[gangals]

See, with gift CCs you can actually go online and see what balance is left. So you go into the store with a card reader, scan them all, then import the numbers into a probram that checks the online balances to see if they have been activated every X amount of hours/days.

[Colonel Panic]

Wow. that's even easier.

But with that method, you'd have to bring a scanner in and use it openly on the cards in the store, which might make the store personnel a tad bit suspicious.

[rbcp]

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.

[Colonel Panic]

Wow. Such gaping security holes.

It's no wonder people do crime. It's easy!!!

[fluffy_phreak]

I can't believe the stores are so stupid as to leave pre-activated gift cards out on open shelves, where anyone can pick them up and steal them. What would be the advantage to that kind of merchandising, as opposed to keeping them safely behind the cashier's counter to deter theft?

well there are a lot of things in stores not behind the counter easier to steal than gift-cards where someone needs to know how the activation system works. i usually find them on the front counters anyway , they dont just stick them in the back of the gardening aisle.

but youre right , its a bad idea. security people tend to only think ahead one step , rather than "if they do A and THEN do B and THEN do C , someone could steal this. " 

[.]

I would steal the moon and the stars for you fluffy

[rbcp]

I was in Target today and noticed that there are a lot of gift cards around the greeting cards.  So the gift cards aren't limited to just the front registers.

[MattGSX]

Don't most major store gift cards now have pin numbers under a scratch-off box? I know when I worked retail, we weren't to sell any cards that were already scratched off since chances were someone already got the information.

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

[rbcp]

Don't most major store gift cards now have pin numbers under a scratch-off box? I know when I worked retail, we weren't to sell any cards that were already scratched off since chances were someone already got the information.

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

If you steal a stack of cards, then you stick printed out bar codes on them, they'll still have their scratch-off box intact on them.

Or if you watched to scratch a gift card and put it back on the shelf, I don't think it'd be too hard to replicate that scratch off stuff.  Sharpie makes a silver marker.  Or maybe silver/gray model paint.

[BillCancer]

at our wal-mart and target, they have gift cards right next to the big aisle of greeting cards. but there is that scratch off stuff on it.

[gangals]

I find that a Crayon can be used to imitate the scratch off stuff somewhat well.