Common Gift Card Scams

Learn about scams

We want to make sure you are aware of common scams that may request payment using Amazon Gift Cards or gift card brands sold on Amazon.


While the specifics of the scam may vary, scammers generally use common tactics:

Make contact by phone, email or online

Make contact by phone, email or online

Create a sense of urgency

Create a sense of urgency

Ask for payment using gift cards

Ask for payment using gift cards

Instruct the victim to purchase gift cards

Instruct the victim to purchase gift cards

Demand or instruct to provide the claim code

Demand or instruct to provide the claim code


Here are a few reminders to help stay safe online:

• No legitimate sale or transaction will require you to pay specifically with gift cards.

• Never use Amazon.com Gift Cards for payment outside of Amazon or its affiliated properties and never use gift cards for other retailers and brands outside of the intended brand.

• Do not provide any gift card details (such as the claim code) to someone you do not know or trust – and always take steps to verify the identity of anyone asking you to provide gift card details.


More about scams


Report fraud and scam

Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which handles complaints about deceptive or unfair business practices. To learn more about common gift card scams, visit FTC.gov/giftcards. To file a complaint, visit https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/, call 1-877-FTC-HELP, or write to: Federal Trade Commission, CRC-240, Washington, D.C. 20580

If your complaint is against a company in a country other than the United States, or you want to find information on where to report in locations outside the United States, visit http://www.econsumer.gov.

If you believe you have fallen victim to or been exposed to a scam, contact us to connect with a member of our Customer Protection Review team. Please note, in order for us to best assist you, we require that you sign-in to your Amazon account, or sign-up for an Amazon account if you do not have one already.

If you receive a suspicious call, or encounter any other uses of the Amazon.com name that you think may be fraudulent, please report it by following the guidelines from our Help page: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=201909130


Common scams that may involve Amazon gift cards or other gift card brands sold by Amazon

Store bought gift card package tampering Fraudsters may attempt to access a gift card’s claim code prior to activation, and then attempt to claim the card for themselves once it’s been purchased and activated by a customer. Prior to purchasing an Amazon gift card from a physical store, carefully inspect the packaging for any signs of tampering or attempted tampering. Do not purchase the card if it looks like someone has already opened or attempted to open and then re-sealed it.

Making payments to strangers scams You receive an unsolicited email or phone call from an individual claiming to be a solicitor / the police or other representative for a grandson, niece or other family member in distress who needs your help straight away. Some callers attempt to impersonate the family member directly. Victims are instructed to purchase Amazon Gift Cards and provide the codes by phone or email. In other cases, victims are told that their computer files or internet viewing activity has been captured and to recover the files, a payment must be made using Amazon Gift Cards. These are scams. If you get a call from a relative in trouble, we suggest hanging up and trying to contact that person on a number that you know is really theirs. You should always be suspicious of anyone that contacts you and demands money quickly.

Social Security or identity theft scams You receive an unexpected phone call or unsolicited email from someone posing as someone from IRS, the Social Security Administration, or the FTC. They mention about issues with your Social Security number, account, or benefits that you need to resolve immediately, or you will face arrest or other legal action. This is a scam. Government agencies won’t contact you to demand immediate payment, and they never demand payment by gift card.

Fake online listings scam You find lower priced listings such as concert or event tickets, a vehicle, pet, rental property by creating a sense of crisis. They ask you to make payment using Amazon.com or other branded gift cards sold on Amazon and to provide your claim codes via email or phone. This is a scam. A legitimate transaction using Amazon gift cards can only be completed through our checkout page and will never occur off Amazon.com.

Job offer scam You may see Amazon jobs advertised with flexible, work from home option on a third party website. They make the offer and instruct you to pay the full item price or job starter kit fee using Amazon.com or other branded gift cards sold on Amazon. This is a scam. Amazon job opportunities will never require you to purchase equipment or pay any initiation fees.

Unsolicited phone call or email claiming to be Amazon You may receive an unsolicited call from someone stating they are a member of Amazon Customer Service. They may say your account is frozen and you need to purchase Amazon.com or other branded gift cards and provide the claim codes over the phone in order to remove the freeze on your account. They might also ask for your Amazon password, full credit card ID or bank account number. This is a scam. Amazon will not call you asking for sensitive information or request gift cards purchase.

Boss scams Scammer poses as a leader from your company claiming they need you to purchase gift cards on their behalf. Always check directly with the leader via a different communication method to confirm this is legitimate before continuing.

Email, text or fake survey scams Surveys requesting you to input personal details including banking information in return for a gift card are common scams. Genuine third party surveys authorized to distribute gift cards in return for completed surveys will never ask you for sensitive personal information. A text message gift card from Amazon will be specifically from this number: 455-72. See how to verify Amazon communications on this page

Tech scam You are setting up your prime video on your TV and go to register your amazon account when a code shows up to go to our website www.amazon.com/mytv . At times, search engine results will show up with many links that look like Amazon links, show an error code when clicked and provide a contact number for assistance. Or you receive a phone call or search the internet and get a fake Amazon number. They will ask you to download and request access to third-party remote access applications like Teamviewer, Anydesk, etc. to help or even provide offer a 3-5 year Amazon Prime membership. This is a scam. Amazon will not ask for remote access to your personal device in order to assist registering your account to your device.

Blackmail scam You are being blackmailed by someone wherein you are asked to make Gift Card purchases by a person online who is threatening to share sensitive information/content on social media platforms or with the customer’s family members. Please refer to FTC information https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/06/spot-extortion-scams-lgbtq-dating-apps and https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2023/02/romance-scammers-favorite-lies-exposed. You can report the scam at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov.


To learn more about avoiding payment scams, click here.