Fraud

[rdaley31-2012]

I bought 2 gifts from Walgreens it appeared to look like the cashier activated them when I got home to check the balance on both cards they were zero I went back and the denied the fact they did not activate 

[kathiec]

@rdaley31-2012 

It takes awhile for cards to appear in the system after they're activated. But if they're still showing zero you've been scammed, but not by Walgreens.

Buying gift cards off the rack at any store is a bad idea. Gift card draining scams are becoming a prime target for scammers. It's likely someone removed the cards from the rack, stole the card's information, then replaced it. They have programs that detect when the card is activated, then drain it. Walgreens did their job. You just fell prey to the scam. Sadly, your money is gone.

You can read more about the scam here:

https://www.staysafeonline.org/articles/avoid-gift-card-draining-scams-this-holiday-season

[mudshark61369]

@rdaley31-2012,

eBay says it can take up to 4 hours for a gift card balance to be available. That's because not all stores transmit their transactions immediately to financial institutions.  Some do it from 1 to 3 times a day.

In case of an issue hopefully you kept your store receipt. You may need that if you run into a 

pre-scanned gift card scam.

https://pages.ebay.com/giftcard/faqs.html

[simba6]

The other thing that can happen is a scammer will copy down the numbers and replace the scratch off strip. They then place the card back on the hook.  One activated, they spend the funds.  With luck,  it just did not go through yet.

Never buy gift cards.  They are dumb, why transfer your money to a third party that might not give it back?