# General Business Category > Scam Alert Forum > [Article] Gift card scams now going by text

## mariecoleman

The latest gift card con these days is through texting, where the message will guarantee a massive gift card to a significant store. It's not the worst of gift certificate frauds, but it's far from harmless. Resource for this article: bad credit online multi payment loans


*Holiday con*


The thing about con artists is that it's a pity they're crooks. If one takes a cursory look at the myriad tricks that criminals use to dupe people out of cash, it becomes kind of ironically clear that if they were to put that creativity to use for legitimate purposes, they'd most likely get as rich as Croesus, legally and above board.


That will never occur.


Daily Finance reports that there is a new gift card scam going around right now. In fact, the text gift card fraud is most likely a good one. It offers gift cards for businesses such as Walmart, Best Purchase and Target through texts. Occasionally, the amount is as much as $1,000 in gift cards.


*Site demands code and phone number*


The text message is sent promising <a href="https://personalmoneynetwork.com/short-term-loans/">up to $1,000 or more</a> on a gift card to the customer if they go to a site and enter in the code. The phone number would be needed too. It is an SMS phishing scam.


What they actually get is their personal data taken and sold to black hat marketers in the form of an advertising list. If a person is lucky, they'll just get a rash of emails promising every little thing from affordable cruises to Viagra - one would make fun of spammers not being able to spell but then again our nation's schools cannot teach the difference between they're and their - and the curious submissions from barnyardfun.com.


There are at least two attorneys that have filed lawsuits about the texts, and some of those may end up being class-action, according to Daily Finance. The site Scambook.com is going to deal with the fight, according to NBC Low Angeles. This issue is that it can also lead to identity theft. Over 300,000 people received messages for the scams from the website.


*Not the worst fraud*


There are a lot of other bad cons that have happened over the years. For instance, one occurred where consumers had credit cards stolen. Then, the thief would use the number to purchase a bunch of gift cards. After that, the money would be transferred to a prepaid card and then spent right away, according to WBAY. That was much worse than just taking info.


That con actually happened at a Walmart where more than $80,000 in cash was stolen, according to MLive. Cashier Erica Shontae Walker is waiting for her punishment as an accomplice to the crime.


According to a 2011 Fox Business article, another method is for crooks to write down the numbers on a gift certificate, like the numbers on a credit or debit card. They bide their time until the card is bought, then spend the balance online.


*Sources*


Daily Finance

NBC Los Angeles

WBAY

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