Visa gift cards are the popular prepaid cards commonly used today for trickery in disguise. It deceives a person, making them issue the gift cards with a promise that the card would be accepted in all stores for shopping but in practical use, the promise is not kept. The card holder has to face much disappointment as well as embarrassment at the time of shopping because the dealer simply refuses to accept the card with the excuse of its inefficiency.
The company cunningly wins the user in buying the card from them hence taking money but at the time of putting this card in use, the user faces utter let-down. The card is not accepted, not only preventing the user from buying the desired things but also making them feel sheepish and a target of treacherous act. Seldom it happens that the card is accepted but later the user is again is in loss when the bank refuses to accept the card and it is discarded.
The card is also rejected when your bill exceeds the amount present in the card. In normal circumstances, entire amount present in your card is deducted making the rest due on the user but this does not happen. The card is simply rejected and the user finds him in helpless circumstances.
Some examples from the real life will help you understand the deception of these prepaid card scam.
First Incidence
Once a scammer went to a book store and desired to buy a book that was quite expensive. He presented the book to the clerk with his vanilla visa scam card as his means of payment. Once the card was swiped through the machine, it did not ask for any confirmation or authorization code which was not as unusual for the clerk as he has been dealing with such situations. The receipt however was mentioned with “forced sale” written at the top corner of it. The clerk was of a view that the payment has been made and the authorization of the card has been left for later process. It later came in light that the bank reached the store enquiring them for false authorization code and invalid payment. The store was left with no option but to pay back the bank because the bank continuously demanded for the chargeback.
Second Incidence
Second incidence is somewhat the same as first. One Saturday, a person came to the store that was being organized. He picked up a book that was quite expensive and wished to pay it via visa gift card. When the clerk first swiped the card, it didn’t work. The person told him that sometimes it happens that the card doesn’t work and provided him with a code that made the card work. What, however, he did not realize was that the payment was done through an offline transaction. The person took the book home.
There are several such cards in United States, making the people fall an easy prey to their treachery and thus it is an individual’s responsibility to make sure that they do not ruin their money in invalid cards.