• Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Each card has an activation code that the cashier scans. They then enter a dollar amount to load on the card. That’s how it is supposed to work. What happens in this scam is that thieves shoplift a couple cards. They take one card, for themselves. Then duplicate the activation code from that card, and the activation codes on the other cards which they then secretly put back on the rack at the store. When someone goes to the store and buys an altered card, the cashier scans it and loads the purchaser’s money onto the card that the thieves already have.