![]() How can you go about safely buying gift cards and ensuring the recipient receives all of the promised funds?Īccording to Venezia, she recommends that consumers either stick to cash, or that gift cards are used as soon as possible after opening. With the holidays right around the corner, it’s prime time for consumers to buy gift cards. However, when they do, the gift card has been fully wiped clean of funds. Scammers are able to get the information they need from the outside of the package, and then leave the wholly intact gift card for someone to purchase. This has been easy to accomplish because the packaging of the gift cards looks pristine. They all circled back to what Venezia learned: scammers go into stores, take pictures of the activation information on the back of the gift card, and then leave the gift card on the rack. Half of them had been completely depleted of funds before the recipients had been given them.Īfter sharing his experience on social media, Vinci learned that plenty of others had similar stories. Similar stories have emerged as recently as a few weeks ago, while others have been circulating for months.īack in May 2022, Tom Vinci in North Carolina bought six $100 Visa gift cards for family members. Venezia isn’t the only person who’s been scammed thieves robbing Visa Vanilla gift cards. With the serial number, it’s easy to get the rest of the gift card information, without the recipient of the gift card ever knowing – or using the gift card. While InComm was quick to dismiss her issue, Venezia learned that scammers have been known to pull the serial number off the packaging of gift cards and use that to spend the money that was pre-loaded onto them. Venezia said she explained that was impossible – the card had been in her possession since she received it, and it hadn’t been removed from the packaging. The hotel informed her that the card had a $0.00 balance.Īfter reaching out to InComm Financial Services, the company that owns Vanilla Gift Cards, Venezia learned that the card had been wiped clean over a year ago, and according to their report, the card was present at the time of the purchase. However, when she handed the freshly sealed, never-been-used gift card to the clerk at the hotel she was checking into, it was declined. Venezia had received a $500 gift card from her mother last year and was planning to save it for a recent trip she had planned. Renee Venezia, a woman living in Irvine, California, told her story about losing funds on her Vanilla Visa gift card to ABC News. You should be able to access the balance from this link as well.Gift cards are always a holiday gift favorite but some consumers purchasing Vanilla Visa cards have run into the Grinch. If the Visa gift card was sent to you digitally, check your email for the original link to activate the gift card. It's a good idea to copy and store this information in a secure place if you want to get rid of the physical card. If the Visa gift card was a physical card, you will need that card's number, expiration date, and CVV to check the balance online or over the phone because you cannot access this information through the Wallet app. When you add your Visa gift card to your smartphone's Wallet app, keep in mind that, for security purposes, you won't be able to view or edit the card's information after it's added. What if the card was added to your smartphone's Wallet app? You'll be prompted over the phone by an automated voice messaging system to enter the 16-digit card number, expiration date, and CVV, and the automated system will tell you the remaining balance. If you know the issuing brand of your Visa gift card, you can also visit their site directly below:Īnother way to check the balance of your Visa gift card is to call the toll-free number that's on the card. You'll need the 16-digit card number, expiration date, and CVV to look up the balance. You can check your Visa gift card balance online by looking at the back of the card and visiting the card issuer's website that's listed there. Luckily, checking your Visa gift card balance is easy to do, and there are a few different ways you can go about it. However, if the card has been lingering in your wallet for a few weeks or months, you might have forgotten how much is on it, or if there's any amount left on it at all! Once you've activated a Visa gift card, it's yours to spend however you choose - whether it's on practicalities like groceries or a splurgy gift for yourself. What if the card was added to your smartphone's Wallet app?.How to check the balance over the phone.
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