Bitcoin Forum

Here's my question, and until I understand this fully I won't ever buy gift cards online cause of this.

Here's two scenarios:
1) you buy a $100 Starbucks gift card and use it fully, then it gets reversed for stolen CC
2) you buy a $500 amazon gift card and use it and then later find out it was reversed

What happens?
My guess is one of the following:
1) they send the debt you owe to collections
2) they come after you for the debt
3) they call the police on you
Or the unlikely
4) they write it off as a loss for the company and you walk away free of any punishment.

Anyone have experience with such a situation? I'm curious to hear about it. I would like to buy things discounted but I'm too afraid of getting arrested or taken to collections for something that wasn't my fault.

Look forward to hearing stories or thoughts on this!

This is in the wrong forum.

Starbucks cards are probably different from Amazon. All that will likely happen with a Starbucks card is it'll get cancelled and that will likely be it. With Amazon they have your details and address and I assume they'll minus your account and come after the debt eventually like eBay/PayPal does, though maybe someone else has more details. I would think you're more likely to get in trouble legally through Amazon, though both are dealing with fraudulently obtained items/goods and you can get stung for that.

As a victim:
Amazon just invalidates all your gift cards(also those who are not related) and don't give you any information. If you have already used them, then it is number 4.
It seems like going after the money would be too much effort and could result in bad press, which they want to avoid.

Btw.
I am currently checking my legal options since invalidating all my gift cards(about € 1000) is just not legal on their site. But damn, they are in Luxembourg, I am in Austria. (Would they be in Austria, it would be pretty easy)

The phrase if you can't do the time don't do the crime comes to mind. I think it's safe to say most of these cards that offer massive discounts are bought with stolen cards. Is it really worth the risk for such a discount? That's something you need to decide but I wouldn't do it personally.

For a Starbucks card that goes bad a lot would depend on how you used the card.

About the worst thing you can do is transfer the balance to cards/accounts of unsuspecting users (e.g. converting the funds of the bad card to physical cards and giving them as gifts to your family or friends). Basically, every other card which the stolen funds are merged into will also be inactivated and their balances zeroed out. It does not matter if the remainder of existing balances are from legit sources or not. Any accumulated rewards will also be zeroed out from those other cards.

On the other hand if the bad card was used in isolation the fallout would be contained.

There is something known as carding(using fake/stolen CC's).
I think some people get lucky doing that and are able to get free items from amazon. But it is wrong, and shouldn't be done.
I don't think amazon would call the police on someone, as the person using it, could just say they got it for free or bought it off the Bitcoin forum.

So if I buy $2000 of Amazon gift cards...buy merchandise and it gets reversed cause the card ended up being bought with stolen CC, no one comes after me? That seems really unrealistic.

From Amazons website:

4. Fraud.
We will have the right to close customer accounts and bill alternative forms of payment if a fraudulently obtained Gift Card is redeemed and/or used to make purchases on Amazon.com or any of its affiliated websites set forth above.