Lain
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2014
I don’t have a Staples offer on my CF but there’s a Dosh 3% back for Staples currently!
What’s the trick to making sure the MCGC aren’t tampered with? Just make sure the packaging is intact?
Make sure the packaging is intact.
Obviously, make sure the tab that the cashier has to pull off hasn't been tampered with.
Some scammers will go so far as to steal unactivated cards to take home, where they very carefully open up the two-layer paperboard packaging, gain access to the unactivated cards' number, expiration date, cvv (and I believe input that into a bot that periodically checks for their activation and value), then glue the packaging back together, and bring it back to the store for unsuspecting customers to purchase. So check the edges of the packaging for suspicious wear or re-gluing.
Another thing I've seen warned about is some scammers will do the above, but will go the extra step of scanning and printing out a copy of the back of the gift card, putting the copy back into the packaging, and keeping the physical card for later use when the card has been activated. The copy has the barcode, which is what the store needs to scan to activate the card; except, you don't have the card. Like the above, the scammer probably has some kind of bot program running periodic checks on the cards he's compromised to find cards that have been activated and their value. So in the small window of the packaging, check the card inside is plastic, with print that has some texture; and not a flat paper printout.
Another thing I do when buying gift cards is I take a look at the exposed part of the card (whether there's a window with a removable tab or the gift card is exposed except for the silver scratch off) for some kind of serial number, and I try to pick the card with a number that is sequential to the numbers on other cards on the rack, thinking if a scammer were to take some cards home to tamper with, he probably wouldn't bother putting them back in sequential order; whereas a store employee stocking the racks with clean cards would be taking them out of the box and putting them out in the same order they were originally printed and packaged.
Best practices also include opening up any packaged gift card as soon as you get home to check for anything suspicious (e.g., is the sticky goop there, or is it glued? is the silver scratch-off still covering the PIN? Has that scratch-off been peeled and re-glued on?); if possible, register the card to your personal info or load it to your account ASAP; and don't wait too long to spend it.
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