Description: Well, you have to give marks for ingenuity, even though the results are unpleasant. Thieves have figured out a new scam in which they adhere a barcode for a card they already own to the back of a card sitting among the gift cards at a retailer. So you may think you are picking up a $50 Amazon card to give a friend but, in reality, the card racks up $50 on the fraudster’s PlayStation card. The best advice to protect yourself seems to be to check the back of your gift cards for any signs of tampering prior to purchase, and, ensure that the type of card you think you are buying shows up on both the cashier’s screen and your sales receipt.

Date: December 9, 2022

Source:  ctvnews.ca

 Link: https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/it-s-a-scam-guelph-woman-warns-of-gift-card-tampering-1.6188682

Discussion points:

1) Were you surprised by this latest scam?

2) What strategies could retailers implement to prevent this type of fraud?

3) In Chapter 7 of Wiley’s Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision-Making we read about the fraud triangle. How could you apply the three sides of the fraud triangle to this situation?