American Business
Thieves are putting fake barcodes on gift cards, tips to avoid being scammed
Arapahoe County Sheriff Investigators are warning the public about a recent scam. Gift cards with fake barcodes were found at King Soopers in Centennial.
A woman purchased a $500 Visa gift card only to find there were no funds on it. Here’s how it works:
scammers are printing out their own barcodes and placing them over the actual gift card barcode at local retailers. When the card is activated, the money is added to the scammer’s card instead of the card being purchased.
What can you do to protect yourself?
Examine the back of the gift card before you buy it and check for signs of tampering, like barcode stickers.
Make sure the gift card’s barcode number, visible through the window on the back of the gift card’s packaging, matches the number on the packaging itself
Pick a gift card from the middle or back of the rack since they are less likely to have been tampered with.
