And it alleges that Google, once alerted that a gift card code has been stolen, has all the information it needs to restore lost funds – yet fails to do so. The complaint argues Google has not adequately warned consumers of the risk of gift card scams and discourages victims from seeking to recover stolen funds. Either way, Google collects a commission whenever a gift card is used to buy apps or in-app purchases on its Google Play digital bazaar. A common strategy is contacting a victim and claiming to be a government official advising of a tax debt that can be paid with a gift card.Īrmed with a one-time use code that unlocks the value stored in a gift card, the scammer may purchase in-app digital goods with the funds and resell them on a third-party market or sell the unredeemed code gift card code to a third party. They usually see a scammer convince a victim to provide a Google Play gift card code to make a payment for some good or service outside the Google Play Store. You can recover the code on a Nintendo gift card after scratching it off by following the steps below: Contact the Nintendo Gift Card Customer Service. Gift card scams have been a matter of concern to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since at least 2018. Returned to store but they are unable to replace and advised to contact you. one off the card is unreadable after label scratched off. The legal filing argues that Google, through its website and gift card language, suggests "that cards will not be refunded, reloaded, or replaced, and that the only thing Google will do if a victim contacts them is investigate the scam and potentially prevent future scams." Just bought 3 100 Google play cards at Zehrs grocery store. Microsoft: Copyright law didn't stop the VCR and shouldn't stop the LLM.US and Europe try to tame surveillance capitalism.Google dresses up services for the EU's Digital Markets Act.Steam and Best Buy could not help me but I noticed on the back of the card it said 'Powered by FastCard'. Microsoft drags Windows Subsystem for Android into the trash I received a steam gift card from Best Buy for Christmas and I accidentally scratched off some of the numbers on the 15 digit code.Other than that theres not much else you can do im afraid. Google has a support page specifically addressing Google Play gift card scams, which states that gift cards are "non-refundable, unless required by law." The specific legal scenarios where refunds may be granted are not spelled out – but advice from Community Product Experts on the same page insists: "If you gave the codes to the scammers, those cards will already be drained and the proceeds laundered beyond recovery." Either take it back to where you bought it with the receipt & see if they have a record of the code or try & guess the missing digits.