Boing Boing

Boing Boing

Why gift card fraud victims almost never get their money back

Ellsworth Toohey
Dec 19, 2025
∙ Paid

Roman Samborskyi/shutterstock.com

The AARP runs ads claiming that any request to pay by gift card is always a scam. Patrick McKenzie, writing at Bits About Money, points out this is technically false — gift cards are a legitimate payment method used by billions of dollars worth of businesses serving unbanked customers. But he understands why they say it.

…

User's avatar

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Boing Boing.

Or purchase a paid subscription.
© 2025 Happy Mutants LLC · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture