Scam Alert: How NOT To Use An Amazon Gift Card
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- We have a warning tonight about using gift cards to buy things online. More and more people are doing it, but as Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan warns, you could get burned. In this 3 On Your Side report, he shows how not to use an Amazon gift card.
According to Daniel Alouie, "They said it was one of the best barbecue grills on earth." After Googling the grill, he decided to buy it on a website called Avadars.com. The website had the best price, and seemingly good reviews. Alouie says, "Everybody said very positive things."
Though when he placed his order there was an unusual requirement. Alouie says "It said we cannot accept credit cards because we want to save you tax. We only take gift card from Amazon." But the price was so good, Alouie figured it was worth the effort to pay with a gift card instead of credit.
So he logged on to Amazon, and purchased an e-gift card. Their e-gift card option lets you send Amazon credit to anyone on the world. But after Alouie sent his to Avadars, he never heard back. He says, "I wrote maybe 15-20 emails, they never answer." And soon afterwards, Avadar's website disappeared.
"I suspect it's seasonal, but it's not new," says David Newman with the Federal Trade Commission. He says this is a common scam around the holidays. Crooks create fake websites demanding untraceable gift cards as payment, in return for deep discounts, often on electronics.
The FTC has even issued a warning about paying with Amazon gift cards. According to Newman, "You've essentially just mailed them an envelope full of money"
When Alouie reached out to Amazon he says it refused to put a freeze on the gift card or refund his money. He says, "The manager said you have to forget about it because we are not going to return your money."
Since Alouie paid for his gift card with a credit card, so, he convinced his bank to refund the money that Amazon wouldn't. Though now Amazon's placed a hold on his account until he pays them back. Adding insult to injury, he didn't get the grill, but still got burned.
Amazon says it does have the ability to put a stop on a gift card and refund any unused funds that remains on a card, but couldn't explain why that didn't happen in this case.
For more information on this scam, visit http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/how-not-use-gift-card.
