Calgarian's newly-bought gift card skimmed by thieves before she got to use it

A Calgary woman is out hundreds of dollars after a gift card she purchased was drained of its value before she ever got to use it.

Cinthia Braun bought a $400 Ultimate Dining gift card at her local Shoppers Drug Mart in November with the hopes of enjoying a few nice meals out with her husband.

She opted to purchase the high-value card because of a deal where customers would get 25,000 Optimum Points with any in-store purchase of more than $200.

"I decided to buy a $400 card, so I got 50,000 points,” said Braun.

"I brought the card home and I put it on my desk, and it wasn’t until Dec. 21 when we decided to go to Swiss Chalet for dinner.

"We went there and the lady working said ‘Your card is at zero.’ I said ‘What are you talking about?’”

Braun says she made sure the activation receipt for the gift card matched the number on the back of the card itself, which it did, and was shocked to find out it had been used by someone else.

It meant that she and her husband had to pay $63 out of pocket for their meal that evening instead of redeeming it on their already-purchased gift card.

Braun has since contacted Ultimate Dining to ask what happened, and they told her that the full value of her gift card was used at an Ontario-based restaurant called Taylors Landing, which does not have any locations in Alberta. 

"They said it was used all on Dec. 5, the full $400 of my money, at a restaurant that's only in Ontario. The Ultimate Dining company is in Ontario and the restaurant this was used at was in Ontario, so it just seemed pretty shady to me," she said.

Ultimate Dining has opened up its own investigation, but is only willing to refund a fraction of what Braun paid for her gift card.

In an email sent to Braun that she shared with CTV News, the company said it would be "more than happy" to replace her gift card, but only with one worth $50.

"We will be issuing the replacement as an e-card which you can print out / show on your phone," it reads.

"You will receive a subsequent email in 1-2 business days containing your e-gift card."

Braun says she's sad they were somehow ripped off.  

"This was meant for us, but if this was a gift for someone else that would just be horrible. You’d look like a crook or something."

CTV News has reached out to Ultimate Dining for comment but has not received a response. This article will be updated if they get back to us.  

HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK?

Gift cards are one of the most popular choices for consumers because of their convenience and ease of use, but have become increasingly vulnerable to fraud.

The Retail Council of Canada estimates losses of $3.8 million in 2021 due to gift card fraud alone.

So how could Bruan's gift card have been used by thieves if it was in her possession in her house? 

Tom Keenan, a University of Calgary professor and cybersecurity expert, says a gift card hanging on a rack at a store has no value and must be activated by a cashier, but having them out in the open poses some major issues.

"Bad guys are scooping up a bunch of gift cards, taking them somewhere and putting labels over the barcode," said Keenan.

"So the cashier activates the card that you think is for a store like Winners, for example, but it’s actually been activated for the Liquor Board in Ontario or something, because that's what the barcode says to put the money in."

Keenan says the best way to ensure your gift card isn’t fraudulent is to either purchase an e-gift card from a legitimate site online, which is safer, or to ask for a card that’s left behind a cashier desk. 

"Ask for one from the back of the store instead," Keenan added.

"It might take a couple of minutes more, but they have thousands of them so let them give you one that has never been out on the rack."

Large retailers and grocery chains like Loblaws and Sobeys have said that their staff are keeping a keen eye on transactions.

In a statement, Sobeys said the organization is aware of fraudulent tampered cards as an "industry-wide" issue.

"Our teammates have been trained to proactively identify tampered gift cards where possible.” 

Victims of gift card scams are asked to report the incident to their local police department and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.