Kennesaw retail store finds hundreds of gift cards tampered with as authorities warn of new scam

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Authorities say crooks have found a new way to carry out their crimes this Christmas.

Scammers in Cobb County are still using gift cards to do their dirty work, but this time with a twist that involves duplicating the bar codes found on gift cards.

"It’s the season of giving and, unfortunately, for scammers, it’s the season of taking," said Sgt. Jeremy Blake with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. "What we’re primarily seeing is scammers going to a major retail store, grabbing a gift card off of a shelf, loading a very little amount of money on it just to activate it, then they take it home, and they’re duplicating the bar code."

From there, Blake told FOX 5 the scammers will go back to retail stores and place copies of those duplicated bar codes on top of inactivated gift cards.

"So, when you purchase that gift card and the cashier scans that bar code, instead of it loading that money for your loved one, it’s actually loading the money to the card the scammer has already activated," he explained.

It’s a scheme which investigators within the sheriff’s office’s fraud department say they are seeing a lot more frequently and, so far, have confirmed at least one well known retailer in Kennesaw has been targeted.

"We’re receiving calls or in-person complaints almost every single day…they reported that they checked their shelf of gift cards, and they found up to 350 gift cards that appeared to have been tampered with," he stated.

Blake said a sure way to find out if a gift card has been tampered with is by asking the cashier to take it out of the packaging.

If possible, authorities recommend buying gift cards from companies directly or giving loved ones who are tough to shop for cash instead.