Avoiding Gift Card Scams

It was reported that in this year’s Christmas season, gift cards were a pretty popular fad.  With that being said, retail store employees are out to get them back. 

Apparently, there have been cases where you hand the clerk your gift card and they’ll turn around and pocket the card.  Then they’ll hand you an empty card that looks identical to yours  apologizing for the fact that the card doesn’t seem to be working.  All of this while your standing there wondering what could have happend. 

Once you leave, they smile at the new fully loaded gift card sitting in their pocket.  The best way to prevent this from happening is by putting your initials on the gift card with a permanent marker before you attempt to use it.  Or you could just use your card online for retailers that have an online store. 

Otherwise, just ask for cash.