If you received a gift card this holiday season, then you should be aware that crooks are using new scams to take advantage of unsuspecting victims.

The perpetrators take pictures of the gift cards before they are sold, then ping the card for activation. Once active they use the available credit unsuspecting to the real owner of the card. Then when the owner goes to use the card there is no available credit and because most of us wait weeks or months to use the cards, we assume that we used the cards.

Use the gift cards as soon as possible and make sure to check the cards balance and make a note of your purchases so as if you run into an issue you can prove to the company you did not make the purchases.