Gift cards are commonly used in online scams

Online scams frequently rely on gift cards, because they let criminals extract money from victims without oversight from banks or authorities. If someone you don’t know asks you for a gift card for any purpose, you should suspect a scam. Never share your gift card details with anyone.

Gift cards make it easier to move money gained through crime

Banks monitor money transfers closely, especially transfers abroad, and can quickly block suspicious transactions. As banks have stepped up their oversight, criminals have increasingly turned to cryptocurrency and gift cards as part of their scams. Gift cards make life easier for fraudsters.

A gift card is a means of payment loaded with a set monetary value. It can be redeemed for products or services from the company behind it, such as Apple or Google. Once a gift card has been redeemed, it’s almost impossible to trace the money back to whoever received it. Shops that sell gift cards do keep records, for example of when and where a card was bought, but linking that information to a scammer is a slow process, and one that doesn’t always succeed, especially if the card is redeemed abroad.

Typically, a scammer convinces the victim to buy a card from a shop or kiosk and send over its redemption code. After that, the funds on the card vanish within seconds, with no way to trace them. In principle, the company behind the gift card can freeze the loaded amount and return it to the victim, but this rarely happens, since criminals redeem the code the moment they receive it.

Criminals either use the gift card in the service it was meant for, or sell the card details on. One method commonly used by organised crime is to buy expensive physical goods, such as electronics, with gift cards and then resell them. Gift cards are part of how organised crime launders money.

Stay alert to any request involving gift cards

Gift cards are a payment method favoured by online criminals across almost every type of scam. Scammers may pressure victims into buying gift cards and handing over the codes, for example in romance scams, CEO fraud, and lottery-win scams. Scammers may also ask for gift cards while posing as an authority, technical support, or a relative in need of help.

So if you get any request involving gift cards from someone whose identity you’re not completely certain of, don’t buy gift cards or hand over their codes to anyone.

How do scammers operate when they want a gift card?

Scammers typically follow this pattern with gift cards:

• The intended use doesn’t match the card’s real purpose. They want the card to cover things outside the provider’s own range of products, such as bills, wages, or payments to authorities.
• The card is needed fast. There’s usually heavy time pressure, so the victim can’t calmly assess the situation.
• Scammers give precise instructions. Criminals walk you through buying the card and handing over its redemption code.
• The request must stay secret. To keep the scam from being uncovered, scammers often insist you tell no one about the gift cards.

What to do in a scam situation

If you suspect you’ve fallen victim to fraud, act as follows:

• Stop buying gift cards for the scammer immediately.
• If the code hasn’t been redeemed yet, cancelling the redemption may still be possible. Report what happened to the provider of the gift card you bought, such as Google or Apple, and ask them to cancel the redemption.
• File a police report with the police.
• If you need support or practical advice, contact Victim Support Finland (RIKU), 116 006 or RIKUchat.