BEWARE! Sephora Gift Card Fraud

[TriHan]

Bought $50 Sephora gift card for a friend on Dec 10, 2023. My friend tried to buy Sephora products using the card for the first time on Dec 17, 2023. However, the cashier said that the balance on the card was $0, which was strange.

I called the number on the back of the card and apparently this exact same card was used in an online purchase on Dec 14, 2023. When I asked for more information on who that person was, customer service reps pushed back and said the didn't have access to that information. I asked if I can help report this fraud so that Sephora is aware and can look into it. The customer rep told me to go talk to the FTC. 

Reading online, this is a common issue with Sephora gift cards:

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Customer-Support/Gift-Card-FRAUD/m-p/6737910#M287735

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Customer-Support/Gift-card-fraud/m-p/6700729#M284278

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Customer-Support/Fraud-gift-card/m-p/6739669#M287924

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Customer-Support/Gift-Card-Fraud/m-p/6606392#M278621

This smells of internal fraud. why? because the back of the card was not even scratched off when i purchased it. how would anyone have access to the card number.

[hneels]

UGH YES. This just happened to me today! My bridesmaids bought me a $30 gift card last week, we we went in store today to buy makeup for my wedding. Great experience instore, but when we went to check out and scratched off the pin (instore!!) it said it had $0! Apparently there had been a transaction on May 3rd that used the  $30….I just received gift card and scratched off today, May 4th!  So that’s impossible. Totally dampened the joy of buying makeup for my wedding. We left disappointed and received pushback from both the gift card department and the fraud center. Makes me NOT want to continue business with Sephora. 

[ccn27]

Wow I can't believe how often this is happening. I spent over an hour in a Sephora store in NYC with this same problem. My mom gave me a $50 gift card for Christmas and when I tried to use it yesterday, I was told it had a zero balance after a charge on Dec. 13. I hadn't even received the card on Dec. 13! 

The location employees were very kind and tried to help by calling customer service but we were told this was a fraud case and out of their hands. I'm a Rouge member and frequent customer and this makes me want to reconsider my loyalty. It's disappointing. 

[KNSantos]

I cannot believe that this is a such a common thing. This was my first birthday I asked for a Sephora gift card and was excited to use it for the sale. As soon as I was checking out my card balance was only $2! 

[LaurieBT]

Hi @KNSantos,

I'm sorry to hear this! I'll send you a private message shortly.

Best,

Laurie

[DiiGood]

Agreed! And they use within a couple of days of activation. They know it's an issue and refuse to do anything. I reported to FTC as well. 

[Lizbethriveera]

This is so frustrating currently going through the same thing I  bought a 50$ gift card that I was originally going to gift but ended up keeping it and when I tried using it yesterday balance was 0 

[keelybt]

@Lizbethriveera I'm sorry to hear that! I will send you a PM. 

[daniiiaug]

This just happened to me… received gift card as gift on 12/28 and rep told me it was used online 12/23.. the day the card was bought….. I also don’t have 16 digits only 13 please help 

[keelybt]

@daniiiaug I will send you a PM. 

[geearch]

Can you please help me as well. I purchased a gift card and all they say is go to the store you purchased it from since you bought it from a third party there is nothing we can do. They made 4 purchases ONLINE and they still can’t help me 

[Fanofjj]

current situation, wack sephora couldn't even tell me any information.

I had fraud with a target gift card and they were able to tell me what day and what it was used for.

What ended up happening?

[DianeD77]

I am going through the same thing.  I bought a $50 gift card for my niece, and she went to use it and they said it was depleted already.  The last 4 digits of the card are missing. I am calling the 800# on the back of the card and they are acting very sketchy and unhelpful.    

[LaurieBT]

Hi @DianeD77,

My apologies! I'll send you a message for more information shortly.

Best regards,

Laurie 

[Caelleai]

I had the same situation happen today. I bought the card on 12/8, it was drained to -0- on 12/13 but I still have the card and the package and stickers are untouched. A manager at Sephora's help line told me there is a known scam running but wouldn't do anything.

With the number of complaints easily found online, this smells like an inside job for sure...

Is there any resolution here?

[keelybt]

@Caelleai I'm sorry to hear that! I will send you a PM. 

[keelybt]

@TriHan I'm sorry to hear about this experience. I will send you a PM. 

[mikaylafriesen]

hi! i also have the same problem as well. i had an 100$ gift card and it said it didnt cover the cost in my cart (which is did) so i deleted an item, went back to checkout and it said my gift card had 20 cents left

[LaurieBT]

Hi @mikaylafriesen,

I'm sorry to hear this and I'm happy to take a look further. I'll send you a message shortly.

Best,

Laurie 

[ellakastan]

same thing happened to me. my grandma bought me a 150 dollar gift card for my birthday. balance is 0 dollars. still have the receipt and everything. 

[StaceyVance]

I would like a reply as well. This is crazy. $100!!  Gone.