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A question about Apple gift card - Money disappeared

R

Ravi-G

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 6, 2010
22
0
I purchased an Apple gift worth $4985.00 last week. I bought it from someone who said that he won that in a raffle. Before I purchased the card, we went to apple store and we checked the balance on the card. Apple employee verified the balance. I asked Apple employee to transfer that amount to a whole new different gift card. I checked the balance two days after on on the new gift card that I purchased with the old one on June 9th and the balance of $4985 was available. I checked my balance on Saturday, June 11th and automated message told me that my Gift card is no longer active. After speaking with Apple customer service reps I was told that Someone from Corporate office transferred money out that gift card. It's been two days and I have been on the phone with store manager and they are still trying to figure out what happened. I have original receipt of the old gift card, I have old gift card, new gift card and also the receipt for new gift card. There hasn't been any transactions on the new gift card.

Any help is greatly appreciated. This is a large amount of money. Did this ever happen to anyone here. Please advise. Thanks
 
Did you check the old card? I can see it, somehow all the money got transferred back to the old card and the seller updated his office.
 
blueroom said:
It's an old scam common among gift cards. Bet you got it at an unbelievable price. In short you're out whatever you paid for it.
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But I bought a new gift card with whole different card number. I also have the receipt that shows balance on the new card. It was closed by apple corporate employee. You think they might have closed it accidentally? I also have the old gift card and money didn't go back to that card either. When I purchased the card the person went to store
With me there was balance on the card and apple employee rung it up. I checked the balance 2 days after I bought the card and money was there
 
It's often done with a stolen credit card, takes awhile for the transaction to be reversed.
How did you transfer the balance from one iTunes card to another? Didn't think this was possible.
Curious how much did you pay and where did you meet this person?
 
blueroom said:
It's often done with a stolen credit card, takes awhile for the transaction to be reversed.
How did you transfer the balance from one iTunes card to another? Didn't think this was possible.
Curious how much did you pay and where did you meet this person?
Click to expand...

I still have that persons phone number and I have been talking to him about the issue. He also agreed to help me out if I needed his help. I bought it on craigslist. He also gave me a receipt of the old gift card and receipt shows there was a balance. We verified the balance with the apple employee before I bought a new one. Could it be closed due to some suspicious activities?
 
Since you're in contact with the seller if everything's kosher then he'll probably return your money.

How much did you pay him? Post the link to the Craigslist ad.
 
blueroom said:
It's often done with a stolen credit card, takes awhile for the transaction to be reversed.
How did you transfer the balance from one iTunes card to another? Didn't think this was possible.
Curious how much did you pay and where did you meet this person?
Click to expand...

blueroom said:
Since you're in contact with the seller if everything's kosher then he'll probably return your money.

How much did you pay him? Post the link to the Craigslist ad.
Click to expand...

In this case money was transfered out of the gift card by apple corporate employee. I have got an email from him that he is researching on the matter. The seller didn't have anything to do with this. There are no transactions on the card. Store manager didn't say anything about being a stolen card or anything. I bought a new gift card with an old apple gift card. No credit cards were involved in this transaction. Most impotently money was there 2 days after I bought the card.
 
Post the link to the Craigslist ad.

How much did you pay him?

Just a refresher on how the scam works, the XYZ Gift card was paid for with a stolen credit card. All is well for lets say 48hrs then the card is reported stolen. It doesn't matter if the balance was transferred as once the CC company contacts XYZ (they're not going to pay them) the gift card even if moved onto another card (there is an trail, it's not cash) will be nullified.

Red flags are often the seller telling you you've got only so many hours to spend it and/or an price to good to be true.

Is it a cell phone the Craigslist poster used? Prepaid...
 
Last edited:
This sticky quote is from a popular Canadian forum called Red Flag Deals. I certainly hope you can get your money back from the seller and it's simply an honest mistake.
Hello all,

In the past year or so we've an increasing number of cases where gift cards have been purchased using stolen credit cards. Often times, the cards will appear to work for a little while before being flagged by the retailer as fraudulent. I'd be on the phone or at the very least do a reverse directory on the phone number.

If you have purchased a fraudulent card, we advise you to get in touch with the police as soon as possible. There are active and ongoing investigations into these scammers and the police take this very seriously as these are not one off scams.

Remember the old adage: if seems too good to be true, it probably is. Gift cards are like cash, so if someone is selling one for 40% off, you should definitely be careful.
Click to expand...
 
These people that buy gift cards with stolen credit cards, why don't they just buy the gift card then buy merchandise? Then they sell the merchandise for much better margins and that computer can't just be canceled.
 
benhollberg said:
These people that buy gift cards with stolen credit cards, why don't they just buy the gift card then buy merchandise? Then they sell the merchandise for much better margins and that computer can't just be canceled.
Click to expand...

Well there's the rub, some places require photo ID for large purchases plus for most crooks the goal is cash and cash leaves no trail (merchandise might). If they "bought" it they'd still have to sell it but I'm sure it does happen. A gift card is worth cash.

Some crooks will tell you to spend the gift card right away. Red flag!
 
blueroom said:
OP hasn't returned, hope he's ok.
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I am waiting for apple to finish their research and they will get back to me on Tuesday. I emailed apple and I told them they shouldn't have sold me the new gift card if the first card had any problems. second, apples gift card policy is that you cannot purchase a new gift card with an old gift card. If their employee had followed that policy situation could have been avoided. Any suggestions that might help my case? Seller used the giftcard in apple store on June 1st to purchase $15 iTunes card and sold me the apple gift card on June 7th. My gift card was cancelled on June 9th. Apple should have taken steps to cancel the card. They had enough time.
 
Ravi-G said:
I am waiting for apple to finish their research and they will get back to me on Tuesday. I emailed apple and I told them they shouldn't have sold me the new gift card if the first card had any problems. second, apples gift card policy is that you cannot purchase a new gift card with an old gift card. If their employee had followed that policy situation could have been avoided. Any suggestions that might help my case? Seller used the giftcard in apple store on June 1st to purchase $15 iTunes card and sold me the apple gift card on June 7th. My gift card was cancelled on June 9th. Apple should have taken steps to cancel the card. They had enough time.
Click to expand...

Apple isn't going to reimburse you for the amount you paid for the gift card. Your best bet is to contact the police and inform them you've been scammed. Tell them the seller said he won it in a raffle, that he gave you a cell phone number (that could have been prepaid) and that he posted the ad on craigslist. Your best bet isn't Apple right now, it's the police.
 
benthewraith said:
Apple isn't going to reimburse you for the amount you paid for the gift card. Your best bet is to contact the police and inform them you've been scammed. Tell them the seller said he won it in a raffle, that he gave you a cell phone number (that could have been prepaid) and that he posted the ad on craigslist. Your best bet isn't Apple right now, it's the police.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your response. Please advice how to file this case properly. Should I contact local police or the city where I dealt with this person. Apple store also has him on their surveillance tape. Seller went to the apple store with me.
 
Ravi-G said:
Thanks for your response. Please advice how to file this case properly. Should I contact local police or the city where I dealt with this person. Apple store also has him on their surveillance tape. Seller went to the apple store with me.
Click to expand...

I'd go with the city you dealt with the person. I'm assuming that's also where the Apple Store is. Makes it easier for the police to investigate.
 
benthewraith said:
I'd go with the city you dealt with the person. I'm assuming that's also where the Apple Store is. Makes it easier for the police to investigate.
Click to expand...

Any hope that I might get money back? I have sellers phone no, his picture on tape, email address (I m sure that's fake), text messages from him, handing him money in front of the cameras.
 
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