Giftcard2.com Text Messages

Have you received a text message telling you that you’ve won a gift card at Giftcard2.com? You’re not alone, but before you start spending all that money, you should be warned there’s a catch. Or 13.

The text message you receive will probably be something like this:

Congratulations! You’ve been chosen to receive a $1,000 Wal-Mart Gift Card! Use approval code:Giveme

When you visit Giftcard2.com, the site actually forwards to a page on logic-boxes.com. What the website displays as I write this is an offer for a $1,000 Visa gift card. It reads, “You qualify for a Free $1,000 Visa Gift Card!” even though they don’t even know who I am yet. How did I qualify – by merely visiting the site? They’ll ask for your zip code, but as soon as you enter that, they want you to fill out a longer form with all of your contact info. They also state that by filling out the form you’re agreeing to their Privacy Policy and Terms. Bad idea.

Taking a look at their terms, we see that “You must successfully complete a total of 13 Reward Offers…” This includes things like credit cards or signing up for services you’d otherwise never sign up for. It also gives them permission to relentlessly hound you with calls, texts, and emails. It also allows anyone who buys your information from them to do the same. Failing to complete any of these 13 offers will make you ineligible for the prize.

Check out some of their other “terms” that should be enough to make you reconsider (I’ve bolded parts for emphasis):

• When you answer a survey question, we will transfer some or all of the information you submitted during the website registration process to advertisers that we believe (based on your answer) may be of interest to you without providing you with another opportunity to review the information. 
• There is no way to cancel an account. If you no longer wish to remain a part of this website, you should refrain from accessing your account.
• In order to receive credit for credit card offers, you must activate the card by making a purchase, transferring a balance or taking a cash advance.
• In order to receive credit for loan offers, you must close and fund the loan.
• Company reserves the right to substitute a check for the reward. The amount of the check shall be determined by Company in its sole discretion.
• We are not responsible for the repair or replacement of damaged or defective products.

This type of bait and switch text message and offer is absolutely rampant. Gift cards for Target, Best Buy, Walmart, Visa, Gamestop, and about any other establishment you can think of are being used to entice people to visit these sites. Once there, you’ll find that you are required to sign up for a “rewards” program, which ends up being expensive and nearly impossible to complete.

Note we are getting reports that Giftcard6.com is also being used for this same scam.

A few phone numbers being used in the scam are

• 2024601818
• 3052055571
• 4252734374
• 4792495798
• 7875135061
• 9176647880
• 9176788711
• 9802548522

Here are several other “rewards” type scams we’ve discussed lately:

• The One Direction Free Ticket Giveaway Scam
• Scam Alert: Text Messages From 43554
• The “Winner of the Day” Free Gift Scam
• The Free iPad Text Scam
• Target Scam Gift Card Text Message
• Target, Disney Hoaxes Making Rounds on Facebook Again
• Best Buy Gift Card Scam Text Message
• The iPhone5 Tester Scam on Facebook

This is what you see on Giftcard2.com as of July 24, 2012.