{"id":960,"date":"2020-03-05T13:00:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T18:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/?p=960"},"modified":"2020-03-05T17:03:20","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T22:03:20","slug":"gift-card-scams-on-the-rise-in-vermont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/gift-card-scams-on-the-rise-in-vermont\/","title":{"rendered":"Gift Card Scams on the Rise in Vermont"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/03\/Gift-Cards-equal-Cash-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-966\" width=\"511\" height=\"429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/03\/Gift-Cards-equal-Cash-1.png 940w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/03\/Gift-Cards-equal-Cash-1-300x251.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/03\/Gift-Cards-equal-Cash-1-768x644.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/03\/Gift-Cards-equal-Cash-1-358x300.png 358w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 511px) 100vw, 511px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2020\/03\/RecordedAudio1583438811335.wav\"><\/audio><figcaption>Vermont Scam Alert by the Vermont Attorney General<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Consumer Assistance Program has recorded a 220% increase in gift card scams with loss reports since December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gift card scams take many forms; however, all request a gift card as payment and for the numbers on the back of the card to be provided to the scammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be in the know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Using gift cards as payment is like sending cash.<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>&nbsp; &nbsp;Providing the numbers on the back of the card is like giving cash:&nbsp;&nbsp;Scammers may ask you to take pictures of the&nbsp;\tcard or relay the numbers of the phone.<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>&nbsp; &nbsp;Scammers may say you must pay with a gift card because your credit card or another form of payment won\u2019t work.<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>&nbsp; &nbsp;Scammers may claim that using the gift cards will provide you certain incentives or free money opportunities.<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>&nbsp; &nbsp;Gift cards are only valid forms of payment when used with the card\u2019s identified retailer.<br \/><br \/><\/li><li>&nbsp; &nbsp;Retail businesses can\u2019t refund gift card funds that have been spent.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Report Gift Cards Used in a Scam | Federal Trade Commission\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HfHI6ToZff4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Gift Card Scams video produced by the Federal Trade Commission<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch out for this and other similar scams that ask you to act quickly by providing gift card information, cash or money order, or by sending a wire transfer or peer-to-peer payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are asked to pay with a gift card, contact CAP right away at&nbsp;1-800-649-2424.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contributing Writer: Crystal Baldwin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Consumer Assistance Program has recorded a 220% increase in gift card scams with loss reports since December. Gift card scams take many forms; however, all request a gift card as payment and for the numbers on the back of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/gift-card-scams-on-the-rise-in-vermont\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4480,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[505556],"tags":[626561,520688,481474,627732,482450],"class_list":["post-960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-consumer-protection-week","tag-scammed","tag-cash","tag-consumer","tag-gift-cards","tag-scams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4480"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=960"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":967,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960\/revisions\/967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}