Be aware of gift card scams

Summer Stephan

San Diego District Attorney

You’ve likely seen the rows and rows of colorful gift cards at the supermarket. There’s practically one for every retailer and the ability to purchase a gift card while grocery shopping is the epitome of convenience.

But as with anything, there is a dark side to having gift cards hanging within easy reach of fingertips and scammers have found a way to exploit the convenience through card skimming or card swapping. Before you buy that graduation or wedding gift card, keep reading.

Card skimming

For this scam, the fraudster has already copied the unique...