Apple class action claims gift cards are unsecured, susceptible to fraud

Apple gift card class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Jessica Pinczewski has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple Inc. and its subsidiary Apple Value Services LLC.
• Why: The plaintiff claims Apple gift cards are unsecured and susceptible to fraud.
• Where: The Apple gift card class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

A new nationwide class action lawsuit alleges Apple has been selling gift cards that are not secure and easily susceptible to fraud, causing consumers to lose money.

Plaintiff Jessica Pinczewski filed the Apple card class action complaint against Apple Inc. and its subsidiary Apple Value Services LLC on Sept. 11 in California federal court, alleging violations of state and federal consumer laws.

Pinczewski claims she purchased two $50 Apple gift cards from Target in June 2023 as graduation gifts. However, when the recipients tried to use the cards, they were told that the funds had already been redeemed and the cards were valueless, she alleges.

Apple refused to refund the money or provide any information about who redeemed the cards, the lawsuit says.

Apple gift cards have been subject to fraud for years, lawsuit alleges

Pinczewski accuses Apple of failing to implement reasonable security measures to protect the personal identification numbers (PINs) associated with the gift cards.

She claims unauthorized third parties can easily access the PINs and drain the balance of the cards after they are activated but before the intended user can use them.

The class action lawsuit alleges that Apple has known about this issue for years but has done nothing to fix it.

Pinczewski claims Apple has received thousands of complaints from consumers who have been victims of the fraudulent scheme, yet the company continues to sell gift cards with the same security deficiencies.

As a result, Pinczewski is looking to represent anyone in the United States who purchased an Apple gift card from January 2020 to present and whose card was redeemed by an unauthorized third party before the consumer or intended user could use it.

She is suing for violations of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the Unfair Competition Law, negligent misrepresentation and breach of implied warranty of merchantability. She is seeking certification of the Apple gift card class action lawsuit, damages, restitution, disgorgement of Apple’s revenues, declaratory and injunctive relief, and corrective advertising.

In another recent Apple lawsuit, two authors are suing Apple for allegedly using pirated books to train its Apple Intelligence AI models.

What do you think of the claims made in this Apple card class action? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Darrell P. White and Douglas C. Stastny of Kimura London & White LLP.

The Apple gift card class action lawsuit is Pinczewski v. Apple Inc., et al., Case No. 3:25-cv-02362-TWR-MMP, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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