{"id":4967,"date":"2021-11-09T08:18:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T16:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/?p=4967"},"modified":"2025-10-27T12:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T19:32:24","slug":"beware-of-gift-card-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/blog\/beware-of-gift-card-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware of Gift Card Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"co-flex_row co-flex_row__blue co-flex_row__long-form-text co-flex_row__next_row__blog-contributors\" >\n\t<div class=\"co-flex_row--row co-row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"co-long_form\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-long_form--block co-long_form--block__nomedia prow items-start \">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-long_form--text pcol-md:12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-long_form--content\"><h2 class=\"h3\">Scammers are using gift cards to their advantage.<\/h2>\n<p>As the holidays quickly approach, scammers are looking for ways to take advantage of innocent people. One technique they use pressuring people to purchase gift cards as a form of payment. This tactic allows the thieves to take the victims\u2019 money without anyway to trace it.<\/p>\n<p>Something to consider: if a someone contacts you and asks you to purchase a gift card, it is very likely a scam.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Beware of the following <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Scammers may contact you via phone, email, or text message<\/li>\n<li>They may pretend to be a financial institution, utility company or a tech company<\/li>\n<li>These people may tell you that your account has been compromised or you have an outstanding bill<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once the scammers feel that you trust them, they will tell you to purchase a gift card to resolve the situation. Many times, they will stay on the phone with you while you are purchasing the gift card and then demand that you read the card number and PIN or send them a photo with this information. After you give them that information, they now have access to these funds.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to protect yourself for falling for gift card scams<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not purchase a gift card for a stranger.<\/li>\n<li>If you receive a suspicious phone call, email, or text message ignore it.<\/li>\n<li>Should you pay a scammer with gift cards, contact the gift card company immediately. They may be able to refund your funds before the money is gone.<\/li>\n<li>Report the incident to the <a href=\"https:\/\/reportfraud.ftc.gov\/#\/?pid=A\" rel=\"noopener\">Federal Trade Commission<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumerresources.org\/file-a-complaint\/#Washington\" rel=\"noopener\">Washington State Attorney General<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you believe someone has gained access to your personal information or if you are a victim of a scam, please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/contact\/\">contact us<\/a> immediately. Sound is here for you and together we can keep your personal information safe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"co-flex_row co-flex_row__last co-flex_row__blog-contributors\" >\n\t<div class=\"co-flex_row--row co-row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"co-blog_contributors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-blog_contributor\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-blog_contributor--img_wrap\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/files\/HomanCharlene_scu-86_300x300.jpg\" class=\"co-blog_contributor--img\" alt=\"Charlene Homan Sound Credit Union Risk Management &amp; Compliance\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/files\/HomanCharlene_scu-86_300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/files\/HomanCharlene_scu-86_300x300-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/files\/HomanCharlene_scu-86_300x300-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/div>\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-blog_contributor--content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"co-blog_contributor--name\">Charlene Homan<\/h3><div class=\"co-blog_contributor--title\">VP Risk Management &#038; Compliance<\/div><div class=\"co-blog_contributor--bio text-component\"><p>Charlene Homan serves as the Vice President of Risk Management and Compliance at Sound Credit Union, where she leads compliance initiatives and oversees risk management strategies, including BSA compliance, fraud prevention, quality assurance, and enterprise risk management. With over 15 years in the credit union industry, Charlene has advanced from an entry-level position to her current leadership role, demonstrating comprehensive understanding of credit union landscape that supports Sound Credit Union&#8217;s values while ensuring a strong commitment to regulatory compliance and risk management.<\/p>\n<p>As Sound&#8217;s appointed Compliance Officer, Charlene ensures adherence to all relevant laws and regulations while providing essential oversight on compliance issues, with the overarching goal of effectively serving members. She actively engages in professional development by attending key industry conferences and training programs. She is passionate about supporting her teams to create awareness to the membership and surrounding communities, with the intent to empower individuals to protect themselves from common scams and other fraud activities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-blog_contributor--social\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Connect<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/charlene-homan-1a856662\/\" class=\"co-social_share--link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"LinkedIn\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"icon-svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"Icon LinkedIn\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-content\/themes\/soundcu-theme\/images\/sprite-icons.svg#linkedin\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you receive a suspicious phone call, email, or text message ignore it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/blog\/beware-of-gift-card-scams\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[64,125,118,119,115,120,121,122],"class_list":["post-4967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tools-advice","tag-fraud","tag-gift-cards","tag-protect","tag-protection","tag-scammers","tag-scams","tag-security","tag-suspicious"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4967"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17403,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4967\/revisions\/17403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}