Reports are emerging of physical iTunes gift cards being compromised. This issue seems to only be in Southern California at the moment, although there’s certainly the potential for the issue to become more widespread.
$100 cards are the denominations that are primarily being targeted and it’s affecting both types of security strips. Older cards have the strips shown in the image above (similar to Amazon gift cards), while newer cards have the strips that peel off in a spiral as per the image below.
In theory the spiral security strips should discourage this kind of behavior, but it looks like the scammers/thieves are able to lift them off the card without having to separate the spirals, but when replacing them on the card they’re slightly uneven.
Unfortunately, it’s not easy to identify this issue before buying the cards as the security strips are hidden by the cardboard that the gift card is attached to when being sold. The first indication that the cards are compromised is therefore after you’ve paid for the iTunes gift cards and they’ve been activated.
If you’re buying these for personal use, you might be able to load them to your account immediately and prevent the scammers from redeeming the card(s) themselves. If you’re reselling them though, there’s a much better chance that they’ll redeem the cards before the person that’s buying them does.
It’s therefore best to retain all physical iTunes gift cards and their receipts in case you encounter this issue. I’m not sure how hard it is to get refunded or be issued a new code, but your claim will no doubt go more smoothly if you’ve retained evidence of your purchase.
[…] PSA: Physical iTunes Gift Cards Being Compromised (SoCal Only?) by GC Galore […]
What did it look like after the unpeeled them though?
I’m assuming it still showed the original codes, but they’d already been redeemed on the scammer’s account.
Yes, but I think I might have a card that has the same issue, and I noticed that there seems to be a kind of weird glue on the card, like someone glued it back on. I’m wondering if they had the same thing underneath the peel.