By alphacardprocess February 25, 2022
When you shop on the internet, it is hard to know for sure whether a website is legitimate or not. You might worry about giving your credit card number and other personal details, but with eGift cards you at least don’t have to worry about having someone physically steal your credit card numbers. There are some risks however. The following are some tips to avoid eGift card fraud.
The first thing is to understand what you are buying. The term “eGift card” is short for electronic gift card. It is basically an email that contains a special code, which can be redeemed by the recipient at checkout in place of cash or credit card. When someone buys you an eGift card, they are basically giving you a short message. This message contains all the details of your eGift card as well as a special code that is unique to that specific gift card.
In some cases, an online criminal creates a new website that sells electronic gift cards for some popular store or restaurant, and then advertises the site somewhere. When some unsuspecting person goes to the site and orders an eGift card for a favorite store, they are giving their credit card number to a criminal instead of to that store.
So how do you avoid being one of those people?
The best thing is not to buy your gift cards from untrusted third parties or sources. As an example, the official website of a store or restaurant is always going to be your trusted source. Second, only buy from sources that have some third-party business verification seal on them such as McAfee Secure and TRUSTe. If you find a gift card site that doesn’t have those seals, avoid it at all costs!
When you are buying an eGift card make sure the wording says it is redeemable in store or restaurant. If it doesn’t, then chances are it can be used online only, which means you could end up with nothing if someone stole your money.
Finally, when you get your gift card by email you should always print out a copy. If you don’t, somebody could read the code from your email and steal your eGift card.
In summary, make sure to buy from trusted sources and avoid anything that looks suspicious or too good to be true. Always check for third-party seals of trust as a sign that a site might not be a scam. Also remember that email gift cards should always be printed out and kept somewhere safe.
If you follow these tips then you will be able to stay away from eGift card fraud and enjoy this exciting new way of giving gifts!