Many companies offer customers “rewards” for a variety of things, such as being a long-time customer, adding services to an account, hitting a certain level of spending or other reasons. The reward is meant to strengthen the customer relationship and frequently is sent as free goods, services, or prepaid gift cards.
Bad guys know this and will try to steal the reward you earned.
How it Works
Someone may contact you saying there is a problem with your rewards account or gift card. The bad guy may say the card was accidentally sent without funds or with less than it was supposed to have. Then they’ll ask for the card information and numbers, telling you they need the information to add funds or send a replacement card.
This is a lie. Once they have the gift card information, they will drain all money from the card and take your reward.
What To Do
If you get a call like this hang up. If it’s an email, ignore and delete it.
Keep in mind – if a company sent you a rewards gift card, the company has the information about the card sent to you. The company does not need to ask you for the information.
If you have questions, contact the company who issued the reward through official channels, like the phone number on the company website or the contact number on the back of the rewards card.
More Information
It is unlikely that a company will re-issue a reward if you fall victim to a scam like this. Learn more about protecting yourself by reading these blogs on social engineering and imposter scams.