How to Spot Gift Card Imposter Scams and Prevent Fraud

This World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, the RILA Communities Foundation joins the Elder Justice Coordinating Council, government agencies, and other organizations across the country to spread the word about business and government imposters. 

Business imposter scams are widespread and affect people of all ages, including older adults. In 2025, the FTC received more than 485,000 reports about business imposters, with reported losses of $993 million. And because not everyone who experiences a scam reports it, this likely represents only a fraction of the actual amount lost to business imposter scams.

These scammers pretend to be someone they’re not to trick you into giving them money, access to your financial accounts, or your personal information. For example, they might claim to be calling from your bank and say there’s a problem with your account. Or pretend to be tech support and say there’s a virus on your computer. They may say they’re from an online shopping site and that there’s an issue with your order. Or they might tell a different lie. Sometimes, they’ll transfer you to someone from the “government” to supposedly help resolve the issue. But that’s really another scammer who will try to get you to move money out of your account so they can steal it. 

Whatever the story is, they’ll say it’s urgent and that you need to act right away — before you have time to think or check their story out. This is a red flag. 

Scammers often demand you pay them using gift cards. They want gift cards because they are difficult to trace. Once you give a stranger a gift card number and pin, the money is instantly gone. Scammers immediately drain the funds making it very difficult to follow the money. 

The RILA Communities Foundation is leading the Gift Card Fraud Prevention Alliance to educate lawmakers and the public about gift card fraud, enhance collaboration among the private and public sectors to investigate criminal activity and drive innovation to combat fraud. An important part of our mission is to raise consumer awareness about gift card scams so that consumers spot the scam and protect their money. 

Learn how to spot imposters so you can avoid them. Know that:

• Never ever will a government official contact you out of the blue and demand you pay a balance owed with a gift card. But a scammer will.
• Never ever will a utility company or any legitimate business insist that you pay with a payment app, cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram, or a gift card. But a scammer will.
• Never ever will a legitimate sweepstakes and lotteries demand you pay them first with a gift card to claim a prize.  But a scammer will.

Help fight fraud in your community. Share these tips with your friends, family, colleagues, and others you know. Visit ejcc.acl.gov/imposters for more on imposter scams. And if you spot an imposter scam — or any other type of scam — report it  to your local police department, your state’s Attorney General’s Office and at ReportFraud.ftc.gov

Remember gift cards are for gifts! Never for payments, debts, or to claim a prize. Learn more about how retailers, gift card networks, and law enforcement are working to keep gift cards safe at protectmygiftcard.com