buy/selling gift cards - how to verify

[lazy_programmer]

I often see on Kijiji various gift cards for sale. In particular I am interested in home depot. The ad states they can meet at the store to verify. I am unsure of a couple of things:

* Is this legit
* Is verifying at the store enough
* If not, what is the scam in this process?

[Calgary14]

I buy gift cards regularly for decent discounts. I don't usually pay retail for anything and discounted gift cards is one way I achieve that. For some reason a lot of the scams use Home Depot and for that reason I avoid them. Any card with a discount of higher than 40% usually isn't legit. I always meet the person in the store to verify but lately even that isn't enough. Scammers use a stolen credit card to buy gift cards. The gift cards are legit but once the store figures out they were bought with stolen credit cards they get cancelled. This usually takes a couple weeks depending on the store and by that time the scammer is long gone since they've already sold the gift card.

Best way to protect yourself is to verify in store and buy the item you want immediately. The longer you wait the greater the chance something could happen. Also if the card has the pin visible (at the back) the person can use the card number and pin to make a purchase online even if they don't have the physical card. That's why it's key to buy the item right away. In general I don't buy gift cards with a value higher than $300-400. On Kijiji it's a good idea to view what else the seller has for sale. If they are selling 5 gift cards for $500 each and claim they don't want them because they were a "gift" it's likely a scam.

Also important to consider which store the card is for. A gift card for Chapters can have a discount of 20-40% but a gift card for Costco usually sells for around 90% of it's value because they're in higher demand.

[sureLoss]

From what I heard, the way they can scam you is if you don't use the card immediately. If they have the receipt for the gift card they can report it stolen to the store or use it online after they complete the transaction with you.

So if you decide to go through with the sale, use the card right away (i.e. purchase something or use it to buy another gift card with a new serial number) so they can't report it stolen/use it.

[squiggs96]

I have bought several Holt Renfrew gift cards at a 20-30% discount. The key there is to verify the amount at customer service, and get the balance transferred to another gift card. Holt has a system where if you know the gift card number you can call in and get it transferred. By you moving it to a new number, the other party doesn't have access anymore. I also use it shortly after I buy to avoid any other problems.

I'm not sure if Home Depot has a similar system, but you could go in and ask if they can replicate the Holt transaction.

[Weitz]

Also as bad as it sounds, If i am making a purchase like this I "judge" the person I am buying from. If I get any sort of shaky feeling about them I just call it off.

[SlapPuck]

I have actually done this a few times. Just get them to meet you at whatever store the card is for and the customer service rep can verify if the card is legit and has the advertised value. Make sure they don't try to pull any sneaky sh*% and swap the card after it was scanned.