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.

[eunjoolee]

The same thing just happened to me too. Got a $50 gift card on may 19 and tried to use it may 22 and it was zero balance 

[keelybt]

@eunjoolee I will send you a PM. 

[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?

[keb3h]

This happened to me today as well!

I received $100 giftcard for my birthday and was told there was a $0 balance at checkout.

I would never recommend purchasing a Sephora giftcard. There was no evidence of it being tapered with and my husband purchased it for me at the Sephora counter. When we called the customer service number there was no resolution offered and told they see it as a valid transaction. We were told it was used at 4am. Since this had to be an online purchase, they have the individuals information but refused to give it. They protect the scammers identity but tell their customers you’re just SOL. 

[LaurieBT]

Hi @keb3h,

I'm sorry to hear this! It looks like your private messages are turned off, and you can adjust your preferences in your Community settings (on the browser only, not the app). If you would like to send me a private message with more information, I'll be happy to look into this. Alternatively, you may contact our live chat at https://www.sephora.com/beauty/contact-us or call 1-877-SEPHORA (1-877-737-4672). If the chat is unavailable, please keep the page open until the next agent becomes available. Thank you!

Best regards,

Laurie

[lk32]

Same thing happened to me today!

[LaurieBT]

Hi @lk32,

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

Best,

Laurie 

[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

[melissaarroyo]

this exact thing happened to me today. I went to sephora to use my gift card for the first time today and they said my balance was 0$. I contacted costumer service they said they can’t do anything about it or offer any replacements. This was a graduation present and i’m not even sure what to do now…

[LaurieBT]

Hi @melissaarroyo,

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

Best regards,

Laurie  

[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 

[Disgruntled3]

Can I also be contacted? This just happen to me. My mom sent my daughter a $50 gift card for Halloween, when we got to the store to use it, they said there was a zero balance. I had the receipt for activation. When I called the help number they said it was used online 10/25. She hadn’t even gotten the card at that time. How can there be so much fraud and Sephora is doing nothing about it?

[DaneeBT]

@Disgruntled3 Sorry to hear about this! It looks like your private messages are currently turned off. You can adjust your preferences in your settings on a browser, not the app. Please send me a private message with your gift card number or you may contact us via phone at 1-877-737-4672 or via our live chat for assistance. 

[timh]

Laurie, Can you please send me a PM? This just happened to me.  My dad sent my 8 year old daughter a gift card and it wound up arriving with $0 and customer service told me there were 5 transactions 5 days before the card even arrived me us in the mail.  Thank you!

[BriKd]

Laurie is going to tell you to call your bank. Sephoras customer service is garbage 🗑 

[sephorasaddie]

why is the bank responsible? I received a GIFTcard, this is really insane and looks so poor. 

[LaurieBT]

Hi @timh,

My apologies! I received your message and I'll respond shortly.

Best,

Laurie 

[NRob91]

I just had this happen today. My sister in law sent me a $50 gift card for Christmas and I went to use it and it said 0$.

[DaneeBT]

@NRob91 I'm sorry to hear about this. It looks like your private messages are currently turned off. You can adjust your preferences in your settings on a browser, not the app. Please send me a private message with your gift card number or you may contact us via phone at 1-877-737-4672 or via our live chat for assistance.