It’s the season of gift giving.
The internet is flooding with searches and purchases, meanwhile stores are buzzing with shoppers.
Gift cards tend to be a quick and easy grab.
“And this is probably the one time of the year when people are buying more gift cards than ever before,” said State Sen. Lisa Boscola, (D) 18th Legislative District.
Boscola, who represents Northampton and Lehigh Counties, is addressing the growing issue of gift card fraud.
“It’s a billion dollar industry right now here in the United States, that’s how much money is being scammed off of these gift cards,” said Boscola.
Someone might buy or receive a gift card for the holidays, try to activate it and without even knowing, the money is already gone.
Boscola said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has warned that the schemes are linked to criminal networks out of China that steal the money and put it towards fentanyl distribution and human trafficking.
“I looked at it, and I go ‘well how can we help?” said Boscola.
Now Boscola is introducing a two-bill bipartisan package. It’s aimed to prevent “card draining” scams that target shoppers in Pennsylvania.
It includes two components:
    -The Gift Card Tampering and Data Theft Act which creates an offense for pre-activation tampering and accessing data on cards that are being sold.
     -The Gift Card Scam Prevention Warnings and Training Act which requires sellers to post fraud warnings.
“Because it is the holiday season,” said Boscola. “It breaks my heart that Americans have to suffer under this type of activity from another government.”
For shoppers out and about, Boscola recommends purchasing gift cards directly from businesses that issued them, double-checking the value, and keeping the receipt.
For anyone who falls victim, “the best thing to do right is to call the police,” said Boscola. “You can contact your state legislators, because we know how best to report this too.”
The pair of bills will be formally announced soon.
Boscola is seeking co-sponsors and committee approval.