From the Bureau: Don’t get scammed out of a gift card

Whether buying a gift card online or grabbing one off the shelf at a store, shop carefully to make sure you don’t inadvertently become involved in a scam.

The Better Business Bureau recommends the following tips:

• Watch for stickers covering bar codes. Before buying, check whether a sticker has been applied over the bar code as scammers tamper with cards. Fraudulent bar codes are connected to a different account that the scammer controls. After scanning a phony bar code and paying, the customer adds cash to a scammer’s account rather than purchasing a new card.

• Look for ripped or wrinkled card packaging. No matter where cards are displayed, thieves can remove them and record the numbers, including the activation PIN. Check the packaging for tears, wrinkles, or other indications of tampering and see if the PIN is exposed. If anything looks suspicious, take a different card and turn in the compromised card.

• Pass on too-good-to-be-true gift card deals. Watch out for websites or social media ads promoting gift cards for popular retailers at steep discounts. The websites might be using these offers to steal payment card numbers or other personal information. Instead, go directly to the merchant site and purchase a card from them.

• Research how to use the card. Not all retailers have the same policies when issuing a gift card. Double-check the terms and conditions on the type of gift card purchased. The Federal Trade Commission has additional information about retail and bank gift cards with rules for utilization at its website, www.ftc.gov.

• Be wary of websites that offer to check a gift card's balance. According to BBB.org/ScamTracker, some websites that claim to check gift card balance are really stealing money from the card. These sites ask for a card’s ID number and PIN or security code. Scammers then are able to use the information to drain the money from the card.

• Register your gift card. If the retailer allows the option to register the gift card, do so. This makes it easier to protect the balance; that way, consumers can report a problem sooner and potentially end up saving funds stored on the card. The longer a card sits around, the more likely a cybercriminal is to steal the balance.

• Treat gift cards just like you would cash. Keep a separate record of all gift cards and do not carry them unless planning to use them. Use cards promptly in the event of a store closure. If a card is lost or stolen, report it to the issuer immediately. Most issuers have toll-free telephone numbers to report a lost or stolen card — find it on the card or online.

Bobby Hansen is regional director for the Better Business Bureau Cedar Rapids office. Comments: (319) 365-1190; info@dm.bbb.org.