Dear Which?
I was the victim of a fraud attempt in April. On a busy day at work, a scammer posing as a senior colleague emailed me, asking me to buy £600 worth of Apple gift cards as an incentive to be handed out to employees. I was told I could keep one worth £100.
I bought the cards in Waitrose, but when I returned to my desk I’d received further emails with a more urgent tone, which didn’t feel right. I checked the sender’s email address and knew I’d been scammed.
Thankfully I hadn’t relinquished the cards’ codes. I rushed back to Waitrose but was told I couldn’t claim a refund and should contact Apple.
Apple voided the cards and promised a refund, but more than two months later, I still haven’t received it.
Last week I was quoted a timescale of a further three to six weeks. I’ve exchanged numerous emails and phone calls with Apple but I remain £600 down. Please can you help?
Name supplied
Faye Lipson, Which? senior researcher, says:The Apple/iTunes gift card scam has been around for a long time, but it’s still lucrative to online fraudsters.
Scammers can use a gift card’s unique code to buy tech items or sell the voucher via online marketplaces for unwanted gift cards.
Apple did the right thing by agreeing to void and refund your cards, but the delay is unreasonable. As I pointed out to Apple, this is a poor way to treat someone who has just been the victim of a crime and is therefore in a vulnerable state.
The timespan quoted also makes no sense. Apple knows that its vouchers are commonly used by scammers, so it should have a speedy, efficient and compassionate process for reimbursing unused vouchers purchased as part of a scam.
Apple didn’t respond to the points I raised about your case, but it did provide a link to information about gift card scams.
The refund appeared in your account three days later and you spoke to me of your relief.
Gift card scams
Scammers want you to act fast without questioning the request, so always verify any request to buy gift cards or urgently transfer money in person before you take action.
It can be difficult to recover your money from a gift card scam, but you may be able to if you act fast.
Never share the numbers on the gift card with people you don't know. But if you've done so already, you should immediately contact the company that the gift card is with to see if it can block the cards.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/scamwatch-i-lost-600-in-an-apple-gift-card-scam-avwcO0B0kLCB