BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Remember that credit card scene in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”?
One minute the concierge is smiling mischievously, the next he’s chasing a kid through the halls because the card reader suddenly flashes “stolen.”
Now, a state senator says real life is looking a little too much like Tim Curry sprinting after Kevin McCallister — and she’s aiming to stop scammers before they turn your bank account into the Plaza Hotel lobby on Christmas Eve: a full-blown holiday disaster.
During the busiest gift-card purchasing period of the year, Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton/Lehigh, will introduce a two-bill, bipartisan package aimed at preventing “card draining” scams targeting holiday shoppers.
What is card draining?
According to a news release from Boscola's office, gift card “draining” occurs when thieves record activation numbers from cards on store racks and then wait for shoppers to load funds.
Once the card is activated, scammers immediately steal the balance online before the customer or recipient ever tries to use it — meaning both are out the money spent.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has warned many of these schemes have been linked to criminal networks operating in China that use the stolen funds to support human trafficking and fentanyl distribution.
Pennsylvania has seen an increase in these incidents, according to the release, and over two dozen other states have laws and proposals that aim to address the issue.
“Every year, thousands of Pennsylvanians give gift cards during the holidays because they’re simple and convenient,” Boscola said in the release.
“But too many families are discovering that their gift was emptied by a scammer before it was ever used. We should not allow criminals to take advantage of this season of generosity.”
The legislation
Boscola’s forthcoming legislation includes two components:
- The Gift Card Tampering and Data Theft Act, creating a targeted offense for pre-activation tampering and the harvesting or possession of activation data from cards displayed for sale.
- The Gift Card Scam Prevention Warnings and Training Act, requiring retailers that sell third-party gift cards to post standardized fraud warnings and provide basic employee training based on model materials supplied by the Attorney General.
In a memo to Senate members, Boscola flagged a case in western Pennsylvania involving drained Apple gift cards sold at Walmart stores.
In that instance, a Chinese national was jailed on the charges after pleading guilty to charges of corrupt organizations and organized retail crime.
Boscola’s memo said these incidents “show how sophisticated and widespread card draining has become, and why Pennsylvania needs clearer, targeted tools to address it.”
She said taken together, the proposals will better protect consumers before they are defrauded.
The Senate will reconvene on Dec. 8, and Boscola’s release said the bill package will be formally introduced in the coming days, with co-sponsors expected to join as the language is finalized.
Boscola hopes to see swift movement so consumers have some peace of mind this holiday season.
“Pennsylvania should not be behind the curve on this,” she added. “If we act now, we can put real safeguards in place and give shoppers confidence that the gifts they purchase will reach the people they love.”
