Amazon Gift Card Scams

No legitimate sale or transaction requires you to pay specifically with gift cards.

Never use Amazon.com Gift Cards to make a payment outside of Amazon or its affiliated properties and never use gift cards for other retailers and brands other than the intended brand. Amazon.com Gift Cards can only be used on Amazon.com after you've redeemed them to your own Amazon account. Don't use Amazon.com Gift Cards to make payments to other businesses or individuals.

Only use gift cards for other retailers and brands on their respective locations. You can use gift cards that include a card network brand (e.g., Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover) at merchants that accept these card brands. However, don't give them directly to an individual for payment.

Don't provide any gift card details (such as the claim code) to someone you don't know and trust. Always verify the identity of anyone asking you to provide gift card details.

Also,

If you receive an email or text saying that you've been gifted an Amazon.com Gift Card, verify that it's from Amazon. Customers can send gift cards by text message. A text message gift card from Amazon will be from this number: 455-72.

Here is an example of how a text message gift card from Amazon will appear:

From: Jane Doe - Happy Birthday to you! - https://www.amazon.com/g/EXAMPLECLAIMCODE.

See additional information on verifying communications that say they come from Amazon on our help page, Avoiding Payment Scams.