Police In Bucks County Alert Residents To Gift Card Draining Scam

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Police in Bucks County are urging residents to be aware of an ongoing gift card scam taking place across the nation, especially with the holiday season rapidly approaching.

"We have been investigating multiple reports of gift card tampering, also known as 'card draining,' involving hundreds of Visa Vanilla, Nike, and Apple gift cards at Giant and local retail stores," said the Plumstead Township Police Department. "However, there have been reports of this all over Bucks and Montgomery counties in November and December alone."

Detective Larkin from the Plumstead Township Police Department recently arrested two California individuals associated with gift card scamming.

Reports of the scam have also been reported in Lower Makefield and New Britain townships.

Here's how it works

The scammers will discreetly take gift cards off the store rack, neatly open or slightly adjust the gift card package to reveal the card numbers and pin-codes, copy the information, and return the gift cards to the racks. When a victim purchases one of these compromised gift cards at the store, activates and adds value to the gift cards, the scammers will use the available funds.

Before you buy

Check all gift card packages for tampering with or if it was opened. The Visa Vanilla gift card package does not need much tampering to reveal the secret pin-code, the package does not need to be opened. The Apple gift card package needs to be opened, but this can be done somewhat neatly. Citizens/customers should be vigilant when purchasing gift cards, particularly during this holiday season, and examine the gift cards for signs of tampering prior to purchase (disturbed packaging, revealed PIN numbers). If a gift card is suspected to have been tampered with or opened, do not buy it and bring it to the store manager or service desk.