Beware of a Vanilla Visa gift card scam if you’re shopping for late gifts at Dollar Tree. That’s what an Indianapolis makeup artist is warning her TikTok followers before the New Year comes.
Shea (@slayedbyshea) picked up several of the Vanilla branded Visa gift cards at a Dollar Tree as Christmas gifts this year, but they were missing some important info.
The cards didn’t have complete serial numbers or security codes.
Shea posted her concerns to her TikTok account on Saturday. Today, the video has over 304,200 views.
Useless Vanilla Visa gift cards
According to her video’s caption, Shea “purchased 3 $50 gift cards that were not usable.”
“Do you see the numbers missing right there,” Shea asks as she displays one of the cards with four of its serial numbers scraped off.
“Where’s the code?” she demands, showing an empty security code box on the card’s back.
“Huh, Vanilla? Where’s your workers at? Scamming people?” she accuses.
She states that she purchased the three cards that were sealed shut from Dollar Tree.
“Never been opened, never been used,” she says. She had them activated at Dollar Tree and gave them to her children, “and they can’t even use them.”
“And then you cannot call the number that is on the back of this [expletive] card … because these numbers are missing, so it keeps saying that my card is invalid,” she says.
“I didn’t know that I had to investigate to make sure I wasn’t being scammed by purchasing a gift card out of a store.”
“Don’t buy these. Don’t get these,” she advises her viewers.
What is the Vanilla Visa gift card scam?
According to Reuters, Visa was sued earlier this year “by consumers who said the card payments network failed to make prepaid ‘Vanilla’ gift cards less likely to being drained by thieves.”
In the suit, it was alleged that the “thin cardboard sleeves” could be opened wherever they are being sold and resealed “without being detected.”
Last year, NBC reported, “Police say scammers steal the cards, copy the card number and security code, and carefully reseal it.”
The numbers missing from the card make it more difficult for legitimate cardholders to report the situation to the issuer.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Vanilla and Visa via email for a statement.
How she responded
Afterward, Shea returned to the Dollar Tree with a warning for the staff. She recorded the transaction in a follow-up TikTok.
Upon entering the store, she began conversing with the manager and explaining the situation.
The manager was unable to provide any refund. He did promise to withdraw the cards from their displays and to inform his supervisor of the situation.
The Daily Dot reached out to Dollar Tree via email for a statement.
@slayedbyshea I purchased 3 $50 gift cards that were not usable. #dontpurchasevanillagiftcards #giftcards #visagiftcards #fyp #awareness #makeviral ♬ original sound – SlayedbyShea
What her viewers thought
Queen Shiba (@tashibatassin77) noted in the comments that “In the store is where it’s happening it’s been on the news and post[s] all over TikTok.”
Shea responded, “I missed the memo.”
“Yes in the stores…they take the cards either scratch the numbers off or they copy the numbers put the cards back then when you load it they take the funds off.” another user claimed.
Another viewer complained, “This is why I stop [sic] using gift cards, and also the fees are ridiculous.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Shea via Instagram and TikTok direct message for a statement.
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