Gift cards are for gifts. If someone tells you to buy one to pay a tax, a fine, a tech-support bill, a prize fee, or a family emergency, that is a scam. The Federal Trade Commission has said this in plain language: if the card is not for a birthday, an anniversary, or another real gift, do not buy it.
This guide is for older adults, parents, and the adult children who help them. It is also for a child who might be handed a phone and told to read a card number aloud. It is not a script for committing fraud, and it will not list ways to drain a card. Steps and warning signs were checked against FTC consumer advice on September 25, 2026.
The one-sentence test
On February 27, 2024, an FTC consumer alert put the test at the checkout line. Ask whether the card is a gift, or whether someone on the phone is telling you which card to buy and asking for the numbers. Gift cards are only for gifts. If the card is meant to fix a problem, pay a debt, or unlock a prize, stop.
That rule still holds. The FTC’s gift-card page, checked September 25, 2026, still carries later alerts about the same payment trick, including a January 28, 2026 note that scammers pretend to be a boss and ask you to buy cards. The story changes. The payment does not.
What the call usually sounds like
The FTC’s December 5, 2022 alert lists the shapes these stories take. Someone calls and says they are from a government agency and that you owe taxes or a fine. Or they pretend to be a family member or friend in trouble who needs money now. Or they say you won a prize, but you must pay fees first.
The February 27, 2024 alert adds the channels and the newer costume. The contact can be a call, a text, an email, or a social-media message. The story can be the government, tech support, or a prize. Scammers may also use a cloned voice that sounds like a relative. It is always urgent. They always want you to act before you talk to someone you trust.
Three signs from the 2022 alert are enough to hang up:
- They say it is urgent, and that something terrible will happen if you do not pay now.
- They tell you which card to buy. The FTC has named Google Play, Target, and iTunes cards, and stores such as Walmart, Target, or CVS. Sometimes they tell you to buy cards at several stores so a cashier will not ask questions. That instruction is the scam.
- They ask for the gift card number and the PIN. The FTC says they use those numbers to take the money. Once the money is gone, it is hard to get back. Do not read either number to anyone who called you.
A child should not be the person who reads those numbers. Tell them ahead of time: if a caller wants a gift card, you hang up and get an adult. You do not go to the store. The same rule covers the pop-up that says the computer is locked. That pattern is in how to spot a fake tech-support pop-up.
A family rule that works on a bad day
Agree on this before anyone is scared:
- We do not buy a gift card because someone contacted us and told us to.
- We do not stay on the phone while we are in the checkout line.
- A voice that sounds like a grandchild, a child, or a boss is not proof. Hang up. Call that person back on the number you already have, not the number they just gave you.
- Government agencies, the FTC, and the police do not collect fines on gift cards. Neither does the power company, the bank, or a school.
- If a cashier asks why you are buying several cards, that question is a favor. Answer it. The FTC has noted shoppers who ask that question and are glad they did.
Write the rule on a card and put it by the phone and in the car. An older adult who is upset will not remember a webpage. They will remember “cards are for gifts” if you have said it out loud.
An adult child who lives elsewhere should be the callback, not the detective. One sentence is enough: “If anyone tells you to buy a card, you call me before you pay.” Do not ask them to argue with the scammer. Arguing keeps them on the line.
If the numbers were already given
The FTC’s 2024 alert says to act fast. Keep the card and the receipt. Then:
- Report it to the company that issued the card. The FTC says it does not matter when the scam happened. Use the contact list on the FTC’s gift-card page, not a number from the person who scammed you.
- Ask for the money back. The FTC says some companies help stop these scams and might refund you. Always ask. A no is still worth the call.
- Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC uses reports to build cases. A report is not a promise that the money returns.
If a child already read a PIN to a caller, treat it the same way. Do not scold them for being helpful. The caller counted on that. Change the conversation to the rule, then call the card company.
What to skip
- Do not give the PIN “just so they can confirm the card is real.” Confirmation is how they take it.
- Do not buy cards at several stores because the caller said one store would get suspicious. That is a tactic the FTC has described.
- Do not wire money, send crypto, or hand cash to a courier as a substitute. A payment a stranger demands in a hurry is the same scam in a different costume.
- Do not post the card number in a family group chat to “ask if it looks legit.” Anyone in that chat can use it.
Checklist
- Everyone in the house has heard: gift cards are only for gifts.
- An older parent has one person to call before buying cards a stranger demanded.
- A child knows not to read a card number or a PIN to a caller.
- A voice that sounds like family gets a callback on a known number, not obedience.
- Receipts stay with the card until the card is a real gift in someone’s hand.
- ReportFraud.ftc.gov is saved, or written on the same card as the family rule.
What this means for you
A parent should say the rule at the same time they set up a child’s phone. A caller who reaches a child will ask for a code, a card, or a password. The answer is the same: hang up and get an adult. Phone controls are in iPhone Screen Time and Google Family Link. They do not stop a phone call. The rule does.
An adult child should practice once. Stand in the kitchen, pretend to be the caller, and stop when the parent says they will call you back. If they would have gone to the store, the practice was worth it. Do not use a real card number in the practice.
A grandparent who buys cards as actual gifts should still inspect the packaging. The FTC’s gift-card page includes a separate warning that thieves sometimes copy the number and PIN before you buy the card. Buy from a rack the store watches, and do not buy a card with a scratched-off strip. That is a shopping habit, not a reason to ignore the phone scam.
FAQ
The caller sounded exactly like my grandson. Could it still be a scam?
Yes. The FTC said in 2024 that scammers may use a cloned voice that sounds like a family member in trouble. Hang up and call your grandson on the number you already have. Do not use the number from the call.
They said they were from the government. Don’t I have to pay?
Not with a gift card. The FTC describes government-imposter calls that demand gift cards as scams. A real agency will not collect a fine that way. Hang up and, if you are worried a bill is real, contact the agency with a number from its own website or from a letter you already had.
I already scratched the PIN and read it. Is the money gone?
Maybe. The FTC still says to contact the card company right away, ask for the money back, keep the card and the receipt, and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Some companies refund some of these cases. Asking is the step. Waiting is not.
What if a cashier asks why I am buying so many cards?
Answer. If the reason is “someone on the phone told me to,” stop the purchase. That question has helped people, according to readers the FTC published with its 2024 alert. It is not rude. It is the point of the question.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, Cristina Miranda, “In the check-out line buying gift cards? Read on to avoid a scam,” February 27, 2024, consumer.ftc.gov, accessed September 25, 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission, Kira Krown, “’Tis the season to spot and avoid gift card scams,” December 5, 2022, consumer.ftc.gov, accessed September 25, 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission, “Gift Card Scams,” consumer.ftc.gov/gift-card-scams, accessed September 25, 2026. The page included a January 28, 2026 item about scammers pretending to be a boss.
Photo: older adults using a tablet, by Sigismund von Dobschütz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
This is not legal or financial advice. If you lost money, contact the card issuer and report the scam to the FTC. Do not use a phone number that came from the scammer.
Update this guide if the FTC changes the “gift cards are only for gifts” test, or if ReportFraud.ftc.gov moves.