What You Should Know About Gift Cards

Gift cards can be a convenient present for the holidays and special occasions. While they seem simple, it is important that both the giver and the recipient read the details for each card to avoid any misunderstandings, and there might be additional policies set by the merchant or bank issuing the card.To get more news about 海外充值, you can visit nnxwheels.com official website.

Federal Law Offers Protections

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (Credit CARD) Act provides several protections for consumers who purchase certain types of gift cards, including store and restaurant (also known as merchant) gift cards. These cards can only be redeemed at the stores and restaurants that sell them. Bank gift cards, which carry the logo of a payment card network (e.g., Visa, MasterCard), are also subject to Credit CARD Act protections and can be used wherever the brand is accepted.

Under the law, a gift card cannot expire until at least five years from the date it was activated. The law also places general limitations on fees. For instance, the card issuer cannot charge a dormancy or inactivity fee on a gift card unless there has been no activity for one year and the card clearly states its policy toward that fee. In addition, some states have separate laws that provide added protection in certain circumstances.
Scammers often use gift cards as a way to defraud people of their money because they’re just like cash – any misuse is hard to trace. Unlike credit cards, there typically isn’t any recourse for consumers when a gift card is stolen or used without authorization, so it is very hard to reverse the purchases or get a refund in these situations.

Another common scam is someone who poses as an attorney for a family member and claims that the family member is in trouble with the law and needs assistance. They contact you by phone or email, and ask you to purchase gift cards in specific amounts to pay them. These are all red flags to a scam, and once you purchase the gift cards, the scammers will tell you to provide them with the code numbers and PINs that are usually located on the back of cards so that the scammer can redeem them.

Remember, no business or government agency will ask you to make payments with gift cards, so if you are contacted in this manner, it is most likely a scam. It’s also a good rule of thumb to never make a payment over the phone or by wiring money unless you can confirm that the request for payment is legitimate.

Also, be on the lookout for gift card scams if you are selling items. Someone may contact you to purchase the item you are selling and tell you they will send a check for more than the purchase price and ask you to give them the difference in the form of a gift card, but once you try to deposit/cash the check, you’ll find out it is fake.