Gift card scams: how to buy and redeem safely

Gift cards are safe products with one property scammers love: a code is as good as cash. Almost every gift card scam follows the same pattern — someone you do not know asks you to buy a card and read them the code. Here is how to never fall for it.

The golden rule

No legitimate business, bank, government agency or tech support line will ever ask for payment in gift cards. Anyone who does — “tax office”, “Microsoft support”, a romantic interest — is a scammer. Full stop.

Buy for yourself, from a real shop

Only buy codes from established shops, and only for your own use. On BuyUSGiftCards, codes are delivered to your email and shown to you alone — never share them, never read them over the phone.

If someone is pressuring you right now

Stop, hang up, and talk to someone you trust. Urgency is the scammer’s main tool. And if a code was already shared, contact the brand’s support immediately — unredeemed balances can sometimes be frozen.