21/01/2023
HOW TO SPOT GIFT CARD SCAMMERS
1) A Business with no face. No matter how you think it, a business is a person. Let's not dabble into the legal part of it… just looking at it logically, there must be at least one
human-being behind a business. If you're dealing with a business then it's not out of place to know the party at the other end. Same goes for when dealing with a "gift card
flipper". Thieves would definitely not want to show their faces and they do all possible to avoid going that way.
2) They never answer your questions head-on, in fact they try to avoid possible room for questions that matter. Have you tried asking of them about your concerns, they would certainly leave you unsatisfied with their answers
3) "We do all" factor: Have you come across the likes that are “the jack of all trade" type? They can buy anything, sell anything and even going as far as dealing what isn't related
to their objectives. No business has the capacity to do all by themselves. Even the companies who own these gift cards have
partners who are authorised to print them. Just be careful.
4) Stereotyped messages: When you ask a question like "How can we do this with my Amazon gift card?" but you receive a
response like "We trade giftcards, bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum...at amazing rates. We can connect you as well..." This is a clear signal that you should run because the person on
the other end is not real. If you feel like the person who sent you the response doesn't have a clue to what your question is then you need to start looking elsewhere.
5) Look out for their website (if any) - pay attention to their ABOUT-US page: Some of the fake ones have websites too. A larger number of people only pay attention to the first page of a website which is only the summary page. Whatever it is that you find there, always go to the "About Us" page: this
page is supposed to tell you everything about the business: its history or how it got to where it is, owner(s)/partner(s) and products/service and more. All these collectively, is the “face" of the business - none should be missing. If this page contains just the product/service being offered then it's incomplete and you should ask more questions.
6) Look out for their partners. If they have partners then you could go further to verify their partnership with these other people or companies. Sometimes these companies may not be aware that someone somewhere is claiming to be their partner.
7) Too good to be true. Even if as a seller you want to make more money (as much as possible) off your gift card, don't be greedy. When you see a rate way higher than what it's
supposed to be in the market, then there is a problem. I don't need to tell you what to do in this case.
These are just a few points, please use your discretion and trust your six-sense. If you have a hunch something doesn't feel right then something might just not seem right.
Some real people do not have websites. Websites are for information purposes and not a criterion for a real business these days; it's the details on the website that gives the business away as real or fake. There should be
at least one thing that is verifiable about the business.
Know this, Gift Card Fairy is always here.
Courtesy: Chijioke Ojinmah
