Can You Be Scammed Using Amazon Gift Cards? You can. The scammers are ready to scam you more than ever before. You many not have heard about the Amazon Gift Card Scam. November 25th Black is Friday. It’s the first day of the retail holiday buying season when retailers come out of the red and go into the black for the first time in the year. In-store sales on Black Friday 2015 were reported to be $51 billion. And On-line sales on Black Friday 2015, $4.45 billion was spent by consumers. Monday November 28th, 2016 is Cyber Monday. On Cyber Monday 2015, $3 billion dollars was spent online. Do you remember 12 years ago when consumers were petrified to make an online purchase? Things sure change don’t they?

The Holiday Buying Season Begins

Are you vulnerable to an Amazon Gift Card scam? The brick and mortar retailers, many of whom also have online e-tail presence, loose money throughout the year.  That’s because their operating expenses exceed their sales income. Though as Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach, both online and brick and mortar sellers are geared up to bombard us with super discount ads. They continue the ad incentives on through Christmas December 25th. They use TV, newspaper, radio and and especially social media behemoth’s like HowFacebook Ads Work and ReachGoogleCustomers through Facebook Ads and Google AdSense

The Amazon Gift Card Scam

Amazon Site is the largest Internet-based retailer in the world by total sales and market capitalization and surpassed http://Walmart.Com in 2015 as the most valuable retailer in the United States. Can You Be Scammed Using Amazon Gift Cards? If you plan to shop on Amazon this holiday season, be warned. There’s been a new widespread scam happening for months prior to Black Friday. It’s The Buying Holiday Amazon Gift Card Scam. 3rd party seller-scammers are using the Amazon Gift Card to steal your money. Amazon hasn’t done anything about it, and is staying officially silent about it, according to shoppers who fell victim to the gift card scam. Many people already have unused gift cards they received as birthday, graduation and holiday gifts for popular sellers like Apple iTunes, Starbucks, Gap, Home Depot and Amazon.

How Are The Buyers Tricked ?

Here’s what happened to some buyers who put their trust in Amazon. The Amazon Gift Card Scam Fake 3rd party sellers will send an email to the buyer containing all the normal Amazon colors and the Amazon logo.  It asks the buyer to verify the item. The fake seller confirms, through a quick email response, that the item is in stock and ready to be shipped. The seller lures the buyer will free insured next day overnight express delivery, if the buyer makes the transaction with an Amazon Gift Card(s). The email contains a list of his local retailers where Amazon Gift Cards are sold.  It tells the buyer to email or text the Amazon Gift Card information to the seller. Oh No. Another Gift Card Case.

There are usually hints about these impostor emails.  It usually contains misspellings, poor grammar, unusual formatting, and most of all, the senders unusual email address. Hover your mouse over the senders email address. How To Spot A Fake Email  During the holiday frenzy, we’re usually caught up in the cool online buying method, impatient, and in a rush to go do something else and therefore a bit careless. We overlook the signals that something may be wrong. The scammers know this.

What Is Amazon’s Position On The Gift Card Scam?

Amazon transfers the funds to the fake seller in methods that are untraceable and nothing is ever shipped. The buyer calls Amazon when they realize they’ve been scammed, but Amazon is of no help to the buyer because the gift card was redeemed faster then the buyer an call to complain. Amazon will simply refer you to their Customer Service Page below.  Customer Service will tell, you after-the-fact, that Amazon Gift Cards are for use only on the Amazon Checkout Page. Nowhere else can you transact an Amazon Gift Card. Be careful. Don’t let yourself get caught up in an Amazon exuberant gift-buying click, and end up regretting it.  Federal Trade Commission Advise a