The Gift Card Trick

Here's one scam that's so common — and so easy to beat — that every kid should know it by heart: the gift card trick. Someone online says, "To claim your prize, just buy a gift card and send me the code!" Sounds simple. It's always a scam.

Why scammers love gift cards. A gift card code is basically cash you can type. Once someone has the code, they can spend the money instantly — and there's no way to trace it or get it back. That's exactly why crooks ask for gift cards instead of a normal payment: it's fast, secret, and impossible to undo.

How the trick sounds. It comes in many costumes, but it's the same move:

• "You won a prize! Buy a $50 gift card to cover the shipping."
• "Your account has a problem — pay with gift cards to fix it."
• "I'm a friend in trouble, please send me a gift card code."
• "Buy Robux/V-Bucks from me — just send the gift card code first."

The one rule that beats it every time. Nobody real ever asks to be paid in gift cards. Not a prize company, not tech support, not a game seller, not the government. So if anyone asks you to buy a gift card and share the code, you already know: it's a scam. Don't do it — tell a grown-up.

Green, yellow, red.

• 🟢 Green: buying a gift card as a gift for someone you know, with a grown-up.
• 🟡 Yellow: a message getting you excited about a "prize" — slow down.
• 🔴 Red: anyone asking you to buy a gift card and send the code — stop and tell a grown-up.

Remember: a gift card code is like cash, and once it's sent, it's gone. Nobody real asks to be paid this way — it's always a scam. Be curious, not careless!