Gift card scam in Colorado Springs area
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Gift cards are a popular and convenient way to give someone a gift— especially during the holiday season. However, the Colorado Springs Police Department has found that they’re also becoming extremely popular with scammers.
The CSPD’s Financial Crimes Unit wants you to be aware of a gift card scheme circulating around Colorado Springs.
“What we are seeing is scammers are stealing gift cards from stores and then cutting out the barcodes. After the gift card’s barcode is cut out, the scammers then replace it with a bar code from another gift card they have already activated. The scammers then place the tampered gift card back on the sales rack. Once a victim goes to purchase the tampered gift card and the cashier activates what they think is a new gift card by scanning the barcode, money is actually being loaded to the scammer’s already activated card, not the new one,” says CSPD Financial Crimes Sergeant Joe Matiatos says.
Detectives recommend taking a closer look at gift cards before buying them. With this scam, you’ll often see some sort of tampering, whether it’s added scotch tape, cuts on the packaging, barcodes not matching up, or even different thicknesses of the card. Most retailers can also check the balance of gift cards, and if possible, should do so to ensure the card does not have carry any balance prior to activation.
Financial crime is a serious offense, and Colorado Springs detectives do not take them lightly. Just recently, the CSPD arrested three individuals tied to this type of scam, one of which occurred at a local Safeway. “Safeway is committed to protecting our customers, and this time of year we are especially sensitive to the potential for gift cards scams. We are grateful to Detective Brian Corrado and the Colorado Springs Police Department for their commitment and partnership with Safeway to let the public know how they can help protect themselves,” said Kris Staaf, Sr. Director of Public Affairs, Albertsons/Safeway.
If you ever believe you are a victim of this, or any other type of financial crime, please notify the CSPD at (719) 444–7000.
