Gift cards

[ancog69]

I purchased a gift card at CVS store for $100. I sent the card to my boyfriend and he was told that the money was in another account and that he couldn’t use the card.

[soh.maryl]

Assuming you purchased an eBay gift card,  isn't there a number or contact info on the back of the card where this can be investigated?  

[12345jamesstamps]

"he was told that the money was in another account"....sounds like you called someone on the back of the card?...I guess. You can always go back to CVS to mention what is going on....with a "receipt".

[soh.maryl]

How could the money be in another account?

When a gift card of any kind is purchased, there is no name on the card, so anyone can use it.

What would "another account" have to do with it?

If I were the OP or the boyfriend, I'd need a better explanation than that.

Hopefully, the card was activated at the purchase point.  

[a_c_green]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

How could the money be in another account?

When a gift card of any kind is purchased, there is no name on the card, so anyone can use it.

What would "another account" have to do with it?  

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The way the old scam worked, someone would note the full number of the card hanging on the rack, then check the card balance every day or so until they saw that someone had bought it and loaded up the balance. At that point they would quickly drain the funds into another account, an on-line purchase or whatever. 

That said, there are supposed to be some safeguards in place, typically a PIN number hidden under a scratch-off area, so that without the PIN visible, the card can be loaded (at the cashier) but not used.

[candd205]

Have you actually met this boyfriend in person or is it just an on-line boyfriend?

If you never met him in person before, then he is probably scamming you by trying to get you to send more gift cards.

[soh.maryl]

Yes, I am familiar with the way gift cards work.  How about reading my questions? 

[soh.maryl]

Why are we suspicious of the boyfriend? I don't get it.

[candd205]

Have you ever in your life sent a giftcard to your boyfriend?

[a_c_green]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

Yes, I am familiar with the way gift cards work.  How about reading my questions? 

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Of course I read your questions. Note that I even quoted your questions in my reply to your questions.

All you need in order to make use of the card is its full number. If you're able to obtain the card number on the rack in the store (i.e. without having to actually buy it), it's just a matter of checking its balance on-line periodically until someone else buys it and loads its balance. You then swoop in and either make some purchases yourself or transfer the funds elsewhere (e.g. by buying your own gift card).

[ferncliff-39]

@ancog69 

It's not clear what happened here - this is an eBay Gift Card that you purchased?

Where did he try to use it, and who "told" him that he can't use it?

What does the Balance Checker show for that card?

To speak with eBay Gift Card team about this, you/your bf need the redemption code  -

Open this Help page on >> eBay Gift cards
Scroll to the bottom and Click on "Contact us"
In the Help Chatbox that opens type AGENT  at the bottom where is says "type here", then press Send to bypass the bots
You should get the options to Chat live with an agent, or have them call you.

[wastingtime101]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

How could the money be in another account? 

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To expand on the explanation offered by acgreen, with eBay (and many retailers) you can apply the gift card to your account at checkout, so that gift card is formally tied to your account and cannot be linked to or used by another account.

What CS was telling the OP is the gift card has already been linked to another member's eBay account.

[soh.maryl]

No.   I have not.  Most of my boyfriends lived near enough that I could present a gift card in person if I so desired.  But thanks for your interest.  

[soh.maryl]

I may be ancient, but all the gift cards I have bought have had a code # you had to scratch off before redeeming the card.  I see that you could obtain the card # from the rack at the store, but how could you see the code # in order to redeem it?