eBay Gift Card Fraud & Scam

[911rex]

This is a new one on me.  Bought an eBay Gift card at the grocery.  It did not appear to be tampered with in any way, shape or form.  The cardboard sleeve was sealed. The gray scratch-off strip was completely in tact.  When i scratched the strip off, only 9 numbers appeared.  The last four digits were missing. Thought it was a misprint and called eBay Customer Service about it. Turns out the card had already been used and had been drained of all the money! Now I need to file a Police Report so I can claim the loss/theft on my taxes.  Had heard about other Gift Card scams, but never heard of this kind where EVERYTHING LOOKED CORRECT and was purchased from a legitimate, reputable vendor.

[simba6 · Accepted solution]

Yes a very common scam.   They could not drain the funds until the card was purchased. The missing numbers were so you could not spend it before they did.

Never buy gift cards.  

[piddly_peddler]

Please email me alectric at yahoo com.  Similar thing happened to me.  If you have the original card you purchased I have some questions about the card itself, specifically the printing on it where the redemption code is.