Gift Card Scams Are Surging: Here’s How to Spot and Stop Them

Gift cards make convenient presents, but they’ve also become a favorite tool for scammers. In December 2025, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb issued an alert warning District residents about a rise in gift card fraud. The warning isn’t just local—gift card scams are one of the most common types of payment fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) year after year. If you’ve ever received an urgent call, email, or text asking you to buy gift cards for payment, you need to know the red flags.

What happened

On December 15, 2025, Attorney General Brian Schwalb published an alert urging Washington, D.C. residents to be vigilant after an increase in reports of scammers demanding gift cards. The alert details common tactics: impersonators pretending to be from the IRS, Social Security Administration, utility companies, or even a family member in distress. These scammers pressure targets into purchasing gift cards—most often Google Play, Apple, or Target cards—and then reading the PIN numbers over the phone or sending a photo of the back of the card.

Once the scammer has the code, the money is gone almost instantly. Gift card transactions are largely irreversible, and because the cards can be used anonymously, tracing the funds is extremely difficult.

Why it matters

Gift card scams work because they exploit urgency and authority. The scammer might claim your electricity will be shut off, your Social Security number will be suspended, or a loved one is in jail and needs bail money. The common thread: they insist you pay only with gift cards and demand that you stay on the call until you’ve bought and shared the codes.

These scams are not rare. According to recent FTC data, consumers reported losing hundreds of millions of dollars to gift card fraud annually. The median loss can be several hundred dollars, but some victims lose thousands. The DC Attorney General’s alert reinforces a pattern repeated across the country: government agencies, legitimate companies, and even friends will never ask you to pay with a gift card. Anyone who does is almost certainly a scammer.

What readers can do

The best defense is knowing the common signs. Here are concrete steps to protect yourself and your money.

Recognize the red flags. Any request to pay taxes, fines, utility bills, or any debt with a gift card is a scam. Legitimate organizations never accept gift cards as payment. Also be suspicious if someone calls you out of the blue, creates a sense of panic (“act now or you’ll be arrested”), and tells you not to tell anyone—especially a bank teller or store employee.

Pause and verify. If a caller claims to be from a government agency, hang up and call the official number from the agency’s website. If a “grandchild” or “friend” calls with an emergency, ask a question only they could answer, or call another family member to confirm.

Don’t share the card code. Treat the number on the back of a gift card like a password. Once you share it, the money is nearly impossible to recover.

If you’ve already bought the card and think it’s fraud, act quickly. Contact the gift card issuer immediately. For example, Apple and Google have fraud-reporting hotlines. The company may be able to freeze the funds if you report within hours. Then file a complaint with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and also report to your local police or attorney general’s consumer protection office. The DC Office of the Attorney General has a consumer hotline at (202) 442-9828.

Watch for follow-up scams. After losing money, some victims are contacted by people claiming they can recover the funds for a fee. That’s usually another scam.

Sources

  • Attorney General Brian Schwalb, “Alert Warning District Residents About Gift Card Scams,” December 15, 2025. OAG DC (.gov).
  • Federal Trade Commission, “Gift Card Scams,” consumer advice page. ftc.gov/gift-card-scams.
  • FTC Data Spotlight, “Gift card fraud on the rise,” 2024 (updated regularly).

Gift card scams are persistent, but they are also predictable. Once you know the script, you can ignore the call and keep your money safe. Share this with someone who might not be online as much—it’s often older relatives or neighbors who are targeted most frequently.