Refuse a gift card demand from a stranger

Name the one request that is never genuine.

The IRS, Social Security, Medicare, your utility company and every police force are never paid in gift cards.

Sharing a gift card number and PIN lets someone spend its balance. Stop contact. If you shared them, call the gift-card company immediately using the number on the card. Keep the card and receipt, ask whether a refund is possible, and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Recovery is not guaranteed.

Key points

• No agency, court or utility is ever paid in gift cards
• Hang up, and report the call at reportfraud.ftc.gov

What to remember

• Hanging up on a stranger is allowed. Here it is the whole defense.
• Gift cards are the request no genuine organization ever makes.

Try this

Say it out loud once: nobody real asks for gift cards. That rule needs no judgment.

Practice: Refuse a gift card demand from a stranger. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.

Scams going around that this helps with

• Fake charity donation scam
• Geek Squad or Norton renewal email scam
• Gift card payment scam
• Grandparent scam call
• Romance scam
• Spectrum 40% discount call scam

Related guides

• Tell the browser from the internet
• Say what the cloud actually is
• Tell Wi-Fi from the internet
• Say what an app actually is
• Unstick a screen that will not turn