Sephora Gift Card Fraud

[HappilyBre]

I am so upset! I am a valued Sephora customer and spend thousands of dollars there. Something is going on internally with the gift cards!!! My friend gave me $100 gift card for my birthday a month ago. I went to use it today and to my shock it said balance was $0! I called Sephora and the gift card department said it was used on May 12 and 13 online. I had the physical gift card in my hand and had just scratched off the number and pin. I told her that was not my purchase and she sent me to customer support who told me to file a police report and I was out of luck. I asked if she could tell me anything about where the purchase went as in city/state and she said no due to privacy! My friend spent $100 and you just tell me I am out of luck! So whoever the criminal was who used my $100 to purchase online gets to just sit back and enjoy free product. To my surprise when I searched this topic this is happening frequently!!!!! Sephora this is a problem! I am going to share this on my social media to begin spreading awareness. I am going to advise my friend to try and reverse the charge with her bank. This is horrifically unfair and as a big purchaser at Sephora I am so sad I was told to go away. 

[MichelleMP]

This same thing just happened to me. My fiance purchased a giftcard for me from CVS for mothers day & I finally went to use it yesterday & when they scratched off the account number it was missing 3 digits at the end (per the store manager). The pin was there but account number was only 13 digits long & they said it wasn't swiping. They told me to call the number on the back so I did, then they directed me to a different Sephora help desk to read them my barcode. They told me they had no access to the missing numbers and transferred me back to the giftcard company. Then they were able to look it up with the first 13 digits & they said the card was used on 6/5/25 online.. I tried peeling up the clear piece on the back of the card and there wasn't 3 numbers at the end showing, it was like they had been destroyed off or never printed on the card.. so how did someone use my gift card online if the numbers were missing? Unless they peeled up the clear scratcher piece from the back of the card & wrote down those numbers and just kept checking daily to see if that gift card had any balance!!! So now I'm out the gift. Someone has to be removing the scratch off sticker and writing down these giftcard numbers and then checking daily to see if a balance was loaded and then using them before we do!!!

[areikk]

This exact thing happened to me! I got a 100 gift card from my brother in law for my bday, and I went in the store and had been informed that it was empty to my suprise. The girl said to call the nunber on the card to help. I called and she told me the card was used on october 6 for online purchases. I was so upset she said there’s nothing she can do. This is incredibly disappointing and very strange that it seems to be happening so frequently. Its just not fair. 

[SANCHEZSANDRA]

Exactly! This just happened to me today!!! They sale you the card, you go to use it, the balance is ZERO then it’s sorry can’t help you! We see it was used but can’t tell where! Sounds like a load of crap! I am reporting sephora to the FTC and will be taking all my business to ULTA!!!! This is insane! It’s not right, yet they continue selling the boot leg cards! 

[Evgenia94]

I’ve been a rouge member for years and have now 2 of those gift cards where the PIN number is only four or 6 digits. I called Sephora costumer service and they said there’s nothing they can do. Are you kidding? They sure are to scam people. I went to the store where the gift cards were purchased, the manager grabbed a brand new Sephora card and scratched that one off only to see that card also only had 4 digits. She said sorry talk to Sephora. I will also post this on social media bc this is fraud and Sephora could care less. 

[LaurieBT]

Hi @Evgenia94,

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

Best,

Laurie 

[SANCHEZSANDRA]

PLEASE NO BODY BUY GIFT CARDS FROM THIS COMPANY!!! SCAMMERS!

[MaysaaG]

Everyone keeps receiving this response when we post about the gift card issue and NOTHING gets resolved. The same issue happened to me and this Sephora representative responded to my post with this same exact message. She private messaged me and told me that she can’t do anything about this issue. Don’t pretend that you’re helping fix this issue when in reality you just repeat what’s told to us when we call Sephora costumer service… that there is NOTHING you can do about this. And that we just have to accept our loss. This is truly unfair.