Gift Card Fraud Prevention

Tips to Protect Yourself From Common Gift Card Scams

Under no circumstances should you provide a gift card number and PIN over the phone or email to an unknown person. The unknown person may try to trick you into buying gift cards and giving them the cards’ account numbers and PINs, which they may then try to use without your knowledge. Never share gift card account numbers or PINs from the back of the card with someone you don’t know.

• Treat your gift card balance the same as cash.
• Lowe’s Gift Cards cannot be used to pay for utility bills, computer repairs, bail or taxes.
• Do not purchase gift cards with packages that appear to have been tampered with.
• Do not purchase a gift card if the PIN has been scratched and exposed.

Lowe’s Contact Information to Report Scams

To report a scam to Lowe’s, please contact the local store where you purchased the gift cards.

Lowe’s sells third-party gift cards that are owned by other retail brands. It would be pertinent for scam victims to also report any scam incidents to the retail owner of any third-party gift cards sold at Lowe’s.

Types of Gift Card Scams

Emergency Scam

Consumers are often contacted via phone and told that relatives or loved ones are in trouble, in jail or in need of immediate help. They may be directed to go to a Lowe’s store to purchase gift cards as a way to immediately help their loved one in need.

Tech Support Scam

Victims of tech support scams often think they are reaching out to legitimate companies who can help service their computers. Instead, they end up calling a scammer who asks them for gift cards in exchange for repairs they are promised. Lowe’s Gift Cards cannot be used to pay for computer repairs.

IRS Scam

Scammers call and claim that they are the IRS or another government agency (i.e., FBI, law enforcement, etc.) and that the victim owes that agency money. Sometimes the scammers say that the victim will lose their house or be arrested if they do not pay immediately. The scammers then instruct the victims to go to Lowe’s to obtain gift cards and to give the gift card numbers and PINs to the scammer over the phone.

Fake Corporate Website Scam

Scammers create fake websites with corporate office phone numbers listed for all retailers. As consumers complete internet searches for corporate office contact phone numbers, they click on these scam websites instead of the actual company website. When the scammer gets a call, they answer the phone “Hello, this is corporate.” They wait for the customer to explain their complaint and then come up with a solution to the customer’s problem by asking them to go to store locations to purchase gift cards. They will ask for the gift card numbers to be provided back to them so that the customer’s issue can be resolved.

Need to Report a Gift Card Scam?

• You can report scams and suspicious communications to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
• You can also contact your local police and/or state attorney general’s office for assistance. 

Other Common Digital Scams

Survey Scam

Be aware that survey scams commonly circulate on social media or websites unaffiliated with Lowe’s (although they often may be branded to look like Lowe’s). Lowe’s invites customers to provide feedback through an online survey at the bottom of Lowe’s receipts. The survey can only be completed online. Lowe’s does not offer gift cards in exchange for liking or sharing social media posts. Lowe’s will never ask you to email personal information such as: 

• Passwords
• Social Security numbers
• Bank account details
• Gift card numbers
• Credit card numbers

Please Note: When contacting Lowe’s customer care, we may ask you to verify personal information on file, which does not include the above as a means to validate your identity.

Free Gift Scam

Be aware of online scams offering free gifts.

• Consumers are offered free gifts through spam email, online advertising or social media postings.
• Often the free gifts are offered after completing a survey.
• Consumers are asked to provide their credit card information to pay for the shipping costs of the free item, which becomes the point of compromise for the consumer’s credit card.
• Lowe’s does not solicit consumers to complete online surveys in exchange for free gifts.

If you are a victim of a free gift scam, it is recommended to file a report with your local police and with the Internet Crime Complaint Center website (ICCC). The ICCC is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.

Additional Resources

FTC: 10 Things You Can Do to Avoid Fraud
National Council on Aging: Top 10 Financial Scams Targeting Seniors From the National Council on Aging

To File a Complaint With the FTC:

• Visit the FTC Complaint Assistant.
• Call 1-877-FTC-HELP.
• Write to:
  Federal Trade Commission
  CRC-240
  Washington, D.C. 20580
• Learn more on the FTC Scam Alerts Page.