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Walmart now faces a gift card scam class action alleging that the massive retail company refuses to compensate consumers after criminals use and return gift cards.
Plaintiff Debbie McCoy recently filed a class action lawsuit against Walmart Inc., and other related entities, claiming that the company participates in a widespread gift card scam by refusing to compensate their customers after criminals steal gift card information and use the funds.
This practice reportedly leaves consumers like McCoy with unusable gift cards.
On Dec. 15, 2017, McCoy says she purchased two $25 gift cards for her niece and nephew for Christmas. However, when she gave her niece the gift cards for Christmas, she discovered that the balance had been used on Dec. 17 by a third party.
Her nephew attempted to check the balance after this discovery to find that Walmart had deactivated his card. McCoy claims that the balances were used by criminals who stole the gift card information off of the gift cards while they were hanging on the rack, causing her to sustain financial losses of $50 in addition to emotional distress and embarrassment from giving unusable gift cards as gifts.
The Walmart gift card class action lawsuit argues that criminals can remove the security tape off the back of a gift card, copy the information, and replace the security tape with another product. Security tape is allegedly readily available for purchase at many online retailers including Amazon. Additionally, gift cards on the rack are easy to manipulate, steal, and replace for unsuspecting consumers such as McCoy to purchase.
Despite the ease with which third parties can steal vital gift card information, Walmart allegedly does not compensate consumers when they fall victim to fraudulent behaviors. The Walmart class action claims the company also refuses to take steps to prevent fraud and gift card scams by securing their gift cards and checking for signs of manipulation at the time of purchase.
“Defendant owed a duty to Plaintiff and the putative Class to ensure that the gift cards sold were original, without signs of manipulations, and otherwise were able to be used by those who received them,” the Walmart gift card scam class action claims. “Defendant breached that duty failing to exercise reasonable care and failing to act in a way that revealed the defects, signs of manipulation, and otherwise failing to reasonably inspect the gift cards at time of check out.”
According to plaintiff counsel, Visa and other gift card companies have started selling their products in bundles to avoid fraudulent criminal behavior and gift card scam. “It’s a shame Walmart hasn’t done the same thing,” plaintiff’s counsel told USA Today.
McCoy seeks to represent a Class of consumers who purchased a gift card from Walmart and had the funds stolen by a third party. The Walmart gift card scam class action lawsuit seeks actual damages exceeding $1,000, restitution, punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.
The plaintiff is represented by Craig R. Heidemann of Douglas Haun & Heidemann PC.
The Walmart Gift Card Scam Class Action Lawsuit is McCoy v. Wal-Mart Stores East LP, et al., Case No. 6:18-cv-03256, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
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178 thoughts onWalmart Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Gift Card Scam
This actually happen to my mom & dad 3 years in a row at Christmas with my 3 brothers, 5 nieces, 2 sister in laws, and my son and I. Then I sons other grandma lives 3 states away from us and she sent him a gift card for his birthday and the same thing happened. Please ADD ME
same but with a best buy card purchased at walmart
Please add me
Same thing but with best buy
Same thing happened to me. I just let it go, but if there’s a class action suit, please add me.
Yes please add me to this
I think the gift cards should be activated in the store by the cashier before the customers leave the store and a special counter spot should be set up with cashiers or personal to deactivated cards before the customer buys them and leave the store
I had a Walmart gift card given to me for a Christmas Gift from my parents. It was for $100. When I went to use it there was no money left on it. It had been scammed or some how used prior to my trying to use it.
As someone who buys Walmart gift cards there is no way a card can be comprised. You have to scratch off the bar code to use the card. So nobody noticed the grey bar box unscratched. Yea seems strange to me. I know for a fact you gotta scratch off the box to use it. Don’t know about this one
The point they are making is that the grey box is completely scratched off and then replaced with a new sticker that has a fresh grey box. It was clearly in the description.
That is completely false……
And furthermore, these same scratch-off strips can be purchased at amazon.com in 500 count bags for $3.99 + shipping…….
It is fairly easy to scratch off the original labeling completely, clean the card’s surface with a terry-cloth wetted with 70% isopropanol alcohol, air-dried, and ready for your “amazon” labels to be adhered in the original place where the previous scratch-off labels were before being removed….
But this much effort is by far not needed to steal the 16 digit card #’s on the back.
I received many for Christmas. I had a bad experience with them and the givers who purchased them feel ripped off. Please refund me
I had the samething happen to me on a Visa Prepaid Gift Card I purchased for 4 of my grandchilden at a Walmart Store back in December of 2016. (Tewksbury, MA) Much of the cards was comprimised and had the money removed from them. I contacted our local Channel 7 news (Solve it 7) after several attempts to have Walmart reimburse me, which incidently failed. Channel 7 made a few phone calls to Green Dot out in California who governs these cards, at no avail either. Incidently, I had a Discover card, which I charged the gift cards on. Discover has credit card protection, and reimbursed me the money that had been comprimised. I really at the time did not feel Discover should have made good for a bad experience by Walmart and Green Dot Credit. I will never purchase another gift card again.