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With booming vacation purchases, there is a good chance that you have already taken some gift cards for some of the recipients on your list. They can be the ideal way to install someone to Happy holidays , send them for an excellent meal, or just make sure your recipient get exactly what they want from their favorite store. But while low-end stockings may seem a practical and sure way to spend some money, you could always be exposed to a new type of gift card scam that steals your money using A false barcode. Read the rest to see how you can avoid being the victim of this type of flight.

Read this then: Never buy anything online with this type of card, the FBI warns .

Whether you buy in a high-end luxury department store or the pharmacy in the block, it is very easy to collect a gift card almost anywhere. And since most are preloaded on a piece of slippery plastic that could look like your own personal credit card, it may be easy to assume that they are much safer than spending money. But unfortunately, the crooks have adapted specific types of scams to enjoy the gift cards and leave the victims high and dry. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

Sometimes it's a message from someone pretend to be your boss Who said they need gift cards to buy party supplies for an office event. In others, fraudsters usurp the police May claim that you need fines and that you have to pay them immediately with a gift card to avoid arrest. Whatever the method, the authorities warn that the gift cards have become popular with the crooks precisely because of their ease find and buy quickly .

"They also have fewer protections for buyers compared to other payment options," warns the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on its website. "They are more like money: once you have used a gift card, the money is gone."

But experts still warn that you could always finish a victim even if you take one in the store.

The next time you browse the store for a potential good gift, you may want to be very careful with your selection. The crooks are now altered with gift cards by equipping physical products with false bar codes that they can use for Fly your money , Reports CTV.

In a Tiktok position, former police officer Niche laus Described how she tried to buy a $ 50 gift card for Canadian department stores in October. However, the cashier noticed that the card had sounded on the screen as a gas gift card before realizing that the The article had been manipulated With a replacement barcotal sticker.

If the employee had not noticed the error, Laus would have been stuck with an unprotected gift card while the crook left with his funds. "You can see that it is a white sticker. It looks like it was almost like a printed laser," she said in the video. "As, it is really of good quality. It is cut so precisely that you can literally put it on the original barcode on top and you would not even notice the difference, unless you really look at it and to Less than you really feel it. "

Laus says that she became more vigilant during her purchases after having read the scam - and found another example of tampered goods. In a Instagram video Published on December 5, she describes the recovery of a PlayStation gift card of $ 100 in the store to find out that the barcode had been changed. When it brought it to the cashier to check, the system has shown that the barcode manipulated would really send funds to a gift card for an alcohol store, reports CTV.

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Unfortunately, trafficking in stores is not the only way to end up losing money. The crooks were able to manipulate the system so that even the gift cards which seem to scan correctly can be emptied almost as soon as they get out of the rack , local reports from San Diego NBC KNSD.

According to experts, pirates have developed a sophisticated system that allows them to use data violations to access the gift card numbers without having to falsify the packaging or even physically touch the article. "Someone could enter the organization that holds these funds", " Niko Behar , a cybersecurity teacher at the University of San Diego, told Knsd. He added that such crooks then use an automated code to scan each time the card has been activated at the cash register, allowing them to steal the funds before the buyer or the recipient of gift could use it.

Behar said he was doubtful of the physical gift cards sold in stores for this reason. "I would say [that there are 40 to 50% chance that they have been emptied," he said.

Even if physical gift cards have a new type of risk, there are still ways to avoid losing money for a false barcode scam. According to Laus, the easiest way is to use your fingers to check if they have been tampered with in any way.

"Take this additional minute to not only feel the barcode in the back, try to lift it," she suggests in her video article. "If it is a real sticker, you will lift this sticker and notice that this sticker does not correspond to the number below", adding that you must also check that the article that goes up to the cash register corresponds to this that you buy.

Behar underlines that opting for a digital gift card is often a much more secure option than entering a physical article from the store. But if you find yourself recovering them in person, be sure to carefully inspect the packaging and try to take the suspended cards at the back of the rack. If you receive a gift card, he also suggests using or saving them as soon as possible to ensure that they are not skimmed, he told KNSD. You must also be sure to save your receipt so that you can submit a complaint if it ends up flying.