Recently I took my beloved Virgin credit card out for another shopping trip. One of the card’s biggest selling points is the frequent cashback offers across a wide range of categories, and when I spotted 10% cashback at Morrisons again, I quickly picked up an Amazon gift card to keep for later.
When I got home and opened the packaging, I noticed something odd. The redemption code appeared to be damaged. Had I accidentally torn it while opening the packaging?
I didn’t think too much of it and contacted Amazon’s online chat support. I sent them a photo and explained what had happened. The response was rather alarming: the gift card had already been redeemed?!
Looking back, there were actually quite a few red flags. The damaged section was in a position where it would have been almost impossible for me to tear it accidentally, and there was also some suspicious damage on the front of the card.
That’s when I remembered some news I’d seen recently about “gift card draining”. Criminals can take unactivated gift cards from shops, extract and record the redemption codes, then somehow reseal the cards and put them back on the shelves. The unfortunate customer then comes along, buys and activates the card, only to discover that the redemption code is damaged and can’t be redeemed. By the time they realise what’s happened, the scammers have already drained the balance.
I never expected to become a victim myself! Fortunately, Morrisons was extremely helpful. I went back to the store, explained what had happened to the manager, and he immediately issued me a refund.
He clearly knew about this type of scam and also pointed out something I hadn’t noticed: the particular gift card I’d bought was actually an old version that the store had stopped selling some time ago.
I feel like people who chase credit card offers like we do are particularly vulnerable to this kind of scam. It’s definitely something I’ll be paying much more attention to in the future.
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