Gift card, wire and payment app demands
Whatever the story is, it ends with a request to pay in a way that cannot be undone.
Red flags
If you hear or read any of these, stop and check with someone.
- You are asked to buy gift cards and read the numbers on the back over the phone
- You are sent to a wire transfer counter, a cryptocurrency machine or a payment app
- You are coached on what to say if a cashier asks why you are buying so many cards
- A courier is sent to collect cash or gold from your home
- You are told to keep it quiet
What to do
- Stop. This payment method is the proof, whatever the rest of the story sounded like.
- Tell the cashier what you have been asked to do. Store staff are trained for this and will help.
- If you have already read out card numbers, call the card issuer immediately. The balance can sometimes be frozen.
- Report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov and tell your local police.
One rule that covers dozens of scams
You do not need to identify which scam is being run on you. You only need to notice how you are being asked to pay.
No legitimate business, government agency, utility, court, police department, hospital or family member needs to be paid in gift cards. Nobody. Ever. For any reason.
The same goes for wiring money to a stranger, feeding cash into a cryptocurrency machine or sending money through a payment app to someone you have not met.
Why they choose these methods
All of them are effectively cash. Once the money moves, there is no chargeback, no reversal and usually no way to trace it. That is not a side effect. It is the reason those methods were chosen.
The coaching is the giveaway
If somebody tells you what to say to a cashier who asks questions, they know the cashier is trying to protect you. Nobody honest needs to prepare you to lie.
Last updated Aug 18, 2026, 7:59 PM. Free to print and hand out. No permission needed.