Consumer Protection Data Spotlight | December 2020 1

Gift cards top scammers’ wish lists

Gift cards make great holiday gifts. But reports to FTC 

show that scammers like getting them, too. Scammers 

don’t ask nicely, though. They use trickery to insist on 

gift cards, and they ask for specific brands. Scammers

prefer gift cards because they can get quick cash

while staying anonymous. In fact, giving a scammer 

the PIN numbers off the back of a gift card is the 

number one way people report losing money on many 

of the top frauds reported to the FTC.

About one in four people who tell the FTC they 

lost money to fraud say they paid with a gift card.

1

In fact, gift cards have topped the list of reported 

fraud payment methods every year since 2018. 

During that time, people reported losing a total of 

nearly $245 million, with a median individual loss 

of $840.

2

Based on reports, certain types of scams seem to favor 

gift cards as a form of payment. Nearly half of people

who reported paying someone posing as a government 

authority said they paid with a gift card. Nearly 45% 

of those who reported losing money to someone 

pretending to be a friend or a family member paid with 

gift cards. And gift cards were the reported payment 

method in about a third of tech support and other 

business impersonation scams.

3

Scammers always have some reason why you need to 

buy gift cards. They might say you’re in serious

trouble with the government and must buy “electronic

vouchers” to avoid arrest. Some people say scammers 

posing as businesses promised special promotional 

pricing for phone or TV service if they paid for the 

first three months with a gift card. Others thought they 

were buying gift cards to evaluate a retailer as a 

“secret shopper.”

Scammers tell people to go to specific stores like

Walmart, Target, CVS, and Walgreens to buy the 
Consumer Protection Data Spotlight | December 2020 2

cards. Some people have reported that alert store 

employees have intervened, but scammers work hard

to stop that from happening. They keep people on the 

phone and tell them not to talk to anyone about why 

they’re buying the cards. They even tell people what to 

say if anyone asks questions. 

The top gift card brands that scammers demand 

change over time. Reports to the FTC suggest that 

eBay is now the gift card of choice for scammers. It 

replaces 

Google Play in 

the decidedly 

un-coveted top 

spot, which 

earlier replaced 

iTunes as the 

top card brand 

people reported.4 But reports of fraud payments with 

both these brands declined significantly in 2019, and 

the brand reported most often in 2020 is eBay.

Notably, reports suggest scammers have diversified, 

and now frequently request a variety of other gift cards 

in addition to these top brands.

5

Whenever someone demands to be paid with a gift 

card, that’s a scam. Gift cards are for gifts, not for 

payment. If you paid someone with a gift card by 

giving them the numbers on the card, keep the card 

and your receipt, and report it to the card issuer 

immediately. You’ll find contact information for some 

major gift cards at ftc.gov/giftcards. Then report your 

experience to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. To 

learn more about spotting and avoiding gift card 

scams, visit ftc.gov/giftcards. 

If you’re a retailer, or state or local law enforcement, 

and you’re interested in helping people avoid gift card 

scams, visit ftc.gov/StopGiftCardScams to download, 

print, and share materials in your store and 

community. 

 1 This figure is based on reports from January 2018 through September 2020, exluding reports that do not specify a payment method. Figures pertaining to gift card 

reports throughout this Spotlight are based on the total number of fraud reports that identify a gift or reload card (e.g., MoneyPak) as a method of payment. This analysis 

excludes fraud reports classified as “online shopping” because of the legitimate use of gift cards among large retailers. To eliminate inconsistencies between data sources, 

reports provided by Sentinel data contributors and reports that do not specify a method of payment are also excluded from this analysis. 

2 These figures are based on gift card reports from January 2018 through September 2020 that indicate a dollar loss of $1 to $999,999.

3 Tech support scams typically involve the impersonation of computer companies like Microsoft, and start with a call or popup warning about a computer virus or other 

technical issue. Consumers affected by tech support scams pay for “repair” of a nonexistent problem.

4 Card brands are identified through keyword analysis of the narratives provided in gift card reports.

5 In 2020 through Q3, the most reported gift and reload card brands mentioned in fraud reports are eBay, Google Play, Target, iTunes, and Amazon. Together, these five

brands make up approximately 39% of the reports where people indicated they paid a scammer with a gift or reload card. Reports provided by data contributors or that are 

classified as “online shopping” are excluded. Card brands are identified through keyword analysis of the narratives provided in this subset of reports