Image courtesy of Fox Business
Nearly 60% of internet traffic to gift card websites comes from malicious bots, according to Arkose Labs data cited in the piece, making card draining — where thieves tamper with physical gift cards to steal balances before redemption — one of the most prevalent consumer scams of 2023. CEO Kevin Gosschalk told Fox Business that scammers have easy access to bot technology that enables them to execute these attacks at scale. AARP data showed that 23% of U.S. consumers have given or received gift cards with no remaining balance.
