Redeemed card by a user

I just got a card worth of $200 and when I got home it says it had been redeemed what’s wrong?

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Sep 15, 2026 5:13 PM

4 replies

Mac Jim ID

Level 10 (105,996 points)

Sep 15, 2026 5:37 PM in response to Beckyalisa

Did you purchase these from a retailer that displayed them on a rack available for anyone in the store to tamper with them? There is a scam that has been going on for many years and retailers are well aware that when the Gift Cards are not secured, a scammer can grab a bunch of cards of the rack and remove the grey sticker to write down the code. All they need to do is place a new sticker on the card, which can be purchased from Amazon, and wait for you to take one through the check stand to activate it. They will spend the money or sell it on some third party sites before you get a chance to redeem it.

Ironically many of these same retailers lock up products that can be stolen from them, but don't have the same concern for their customers. The scam in that case happened right in the store you purchased it from and they are responsible for securing your purchase. I would never recommend purchasing any Gift Card from an unsecured location such as a display rack in a store or stick to purchasing them from Apple directly.

Every year around the holidays where Gift Card purchases are most common, news sites report on this scam, but of course it can happen any time of the year. As for a resolution, you have 2 approaches:

Contact the Store Manager and escalate to District Manager and Corporate office if that is what happened to you.
And as always, contacting Apple should be done to report that location, although a refund is not likely. We don't make those decisions, so we can't say for sure. It is just based on what has been previously reported.

Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

Please update on the circumstances of your card purchase and if you were able to come up with a resolution through either option.

Smilin-Brian

Level 10 (97,882 points)

Sep 16, 2026 1:30 PM in response to Beckyalisa

Check your sales receipt.

If the balance is missing or the card was redeemed by someone else, contact Apple Support with the gift card’s original purchase receipt for assistance.
If the card doesn’t appear on your sales receipt, that usually means the card was never activated at purchase.
If the card appears on your sales receipt, then that usually means that the funds were already used.

Contact Apple Support with the receipt and serial number; only they can verify the card’s activation status and help resolve the issue.

Good Luck! 👋🏼😉

Smiliñ 😎 Brian | Community Volunteer