Can Apple Gift Cards be scanned by scammers using cell phones?

That’s a scam that’s been going around. The cards are not “scanned by cell phones,” but sometimes dishonest people will take a bunch of gift cards, which are worthless since they haven’t been purchased/activated, copy the codes, reseal them and return them to the store. That way, when someone does buy them, the other person already has the code and can immediately use the funds before the buyer has a chance to.

If you are just trying to buy the gift card for yourself in order to make purchases, you’re better off ordering a gift card from Apple directly online, or just adding money to your Apple Account balance.

If you must buy cards in a store, go for the smaller value ones. I figure that the thieves won't bother as much with those. If I have time I will only purchase one at a time and kind of test the water.

The other thing I do is redeem the card the minute I buy it. I won't even leave the store. It is the last thing to ring up and then 30 seconds later I em entering the code into my iPhone. The card gets activated when you purchase it and that's when it is a race to see who can enter the code first. I suspect the thieves have some automated system constantly checking but I am banking on it taking some time for them to cycle through their cards and I try to get in first.

Hello~ Due to these many scams …I buy all of my Apple Gift cards here and eliminate the issue entirely…

Apple Gift Card - Apple <<< Click here.

~Katana-San~

Please note for future reference, an "Apple Card" as in the topic of this community forum is Apple's MasterCard credit card, not the same as an "Apple Gift Card"