Buying a gift card this holiday? Cyber security expert warns of 'card draining' scam

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Gift cards are a popular and convenient present this holiday season but buyers should beware. Cyber security experts say thieves are targeting gift cards with a scam called card draining.

“Oftentimes, scammers will replace a barcode on the back of a card with a card they have. So while we're buying that card, we think we're adding value to the card we're buying. And we're actually adding value to a scammers card,” explained cyber security expert Chris Peltz with Guidepoint Security.

“Another popular scam is stealing the card information off a card, putting it back on the shelf,” said Peltz.

“So when we purchase and add value to that card, they can quickly use that value before our recipient gets it.”

Peltz said it’s a popular scam this time of year.

“Gift cards have become really popular gifts, we're tending to give more gift cards and we're tending to load more value on them. The average gift card is approaching about $300 in value. So there's money to be made in targeting them,” said Peltz.

So how do you protect yourself from card draining?

“First, I like to buy gift cards straight from the retailer online. Digital gift cards are a little harder to tamper with. If you do need to buy physical gift cards, check the packaging, make sure that it's not bent or tampered with that all the seals are there. And that it doesn't look like any new stickers have been added.”

And keep your gift card receipts, Peltz says if there is an issue you can go to the retailer and if you feel you are a victim of a card scam report it to the FTC.