Gift card scams and how to stay safe

Gift cards are a great way to add bonus value to your everyday shopping. Unfortunately, they are also a favourite tool of scammers, because gift card codes work like cash: once a code is redeemed, the money is gone. This page explains the most common gift card scams, how to spot them, and what to do if you think you have been targeted.

The one rule that stops most scams

No legitimate company or government body will ever ask you to pay them with gift cards. Not HMRC, not the police, not your bank, not your energy supplier, not a courier, and not Galore. Gift cards are for gifts and your own shopping, never for paying bills, debts, fines, fees or deposits. If anyone asks you to buy gift cards and share the codes, it is a scam, every time.

Common gift card scams

Impersonation calls and messages

Scammers pretend to be HMRC chasing unpaid tax, your bank's fraud team, tech support fixing a problem on your computer, or a courier holding a parcel. The story varies, but the ending is always the same: you are told to buy gift cards and read out the codes. Real organisations never settle anything this way.

The boss or colleague scam

An email or WhatsApp message that appears to come from your manager asks you to urgently buy gift cards for clients or colleagues and send over the codes, promising to pay you back. Check in person or by phoning a number you already have. Scammers copy names, photos and email signatures easily.

Friend or family emergencies

A message claims a loved one is in trouble and needs money fast, often with instructions to keep it secret. Some scammers now use cloned voices on phone calls. Always verify by contacting the person directly on a number you know is theirs, not one given in the message.

Prizes, refunds and fees

You are told you have won a prize or are owed a refund, but must first pay a release fee or verification charge in gift cards. Genuine prizes and refunds never require an upfront payment.

Romance scams

Someone you have only met online builds a relationship over weeks or months, then starts asking for gift cards to cover an emergency, travel or a customs charge. It is one of the most costly scam types in the UK. Never send money or gift card codes to someone you have not met in person.

Marketplace and resale tricks

A buyer on a marketplace or social media offers to pay you in gift cards, or a seller offers a card at a price that looks too good to be true and asks for a bank transfer. Either way, you have no protection if the card turns out to be empty, already spent, or never arrives. Only buy gift cards from the retailer itself or from a seller you can verify, and never accept them as payment for goods.

Red flags to watch for

  • Urgency and pressure. "You must do this right now" is the scammer's favourite sentence. Real organisations let you take your time.
  • Secrecy. Being told not to discuss the payment with family, your bank, or shop staff.
  • Requests for codes. Anyone asking you to read out, type in, or photograph a gift card code or PIN.
  • Staying on the line. Callers who keep you on the phone while you buy the cards, so nobody can talk you out of it.
  • Specific brands. Instructions to buy particular cards, commonly Apple, Google Play, Amazon or Steam.

What Galore will never do

  • We will never ask you to pay for anything with a gift card.
  • We will never phone, email or text you asking for the code of a gift card you bought from us.
  • We will never ask for your online banking password, your card PIN, or a one-time passcode from your bank.
  • Our only website is galorerewards.com. Check the address bar before entering payment details anywhere.

One note on our own checkout: as a security step we may ask you to confirm a short code that appears next to your Galore payment on your own bank statement. That code is visible only to you, and we only ever ask for it on our order confirmation page after you have paid. We will never ask for it, or anything else, by phone, email, text or social media.

Keep your gift cards safe

  • Treat every gift card code like cash. Once it is redeemed, it is spent.
  • Never share a code with anyone who contacts you, whatever the reason they give.
  • Redeem digital gift cards promptly rather than leaving codes sitting in your inbox.
  • Buying from a shop display? Check the packaging is intact and the PIN panel is not scratched off before you pay.

If you think you have been targeted

  1. Stop. End the call or conversation. Do not buy any more cards or share any more codes.
  2. Report it. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, report to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, report to Police Scotland on 101.
  3. Forward scam messages. Send scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and forward scam texts to 7726, both free.
  4. Tell your bank if you shared any bank or card details, so they can protect your account.
  5. Contact the gift card issuer. If a card bought from Galore is involved, email support@galorerewards.com as soon as possible with your order number. We cannot always recover redeemed funds, but the sooner we know, the more we can do.

Staying alert is the best protection there is. If something feels off, slow down, check with someone you trust, and remember the one rule: nobody legitimate ever asks to be paid in gift cards.