Gift card and cryptocurrency demands
Nobody legitimate has ever needed to be paid in gift cards. Treat the request as the end of the conversation, not as something to negotiate.
Why scammers ask for them
A gift card code is money that moves instantly, cannot be traced back, and cannot be recalled once it has been spent, which is often within minutes of you reading it out. Cryptocurrency has the same three properties. Neither has a chargeback, a fraud department, or anyone to appeal to.
The versions you will meet
- The buyer who says their company only pays vendors in gift cards.
- The employer who hires you quickly and asks you to buy equipment or software with gift cards, promising reimbursement in the first paycheck.
- The landlord who wants a holding deposit in cards because they are out of the country.
- The seller who will only take crypto for a car, a phone or a set of tickets.
- The pressure version, where someone claims to be from a government agency, a utility, or Jinu itself, and says a payment in cards will settle it. No agency and no company does this.
There are no exceptions
Not Steam, not Apple, not Amazon, not Google Play, not a photo of the back of the card, not "only half in cards". If the request appears at any point, stop, report the conversation, and block the account.
If you have already sent codes
- Call the card issuer immediately. The number is on the back of the card and there is a real chance if the balance has not been spent.
- Keep the physical cards and the till receipts. The issuer will ask for them.
- Report it to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to your local police.
- Report the conversation and the listing on Jinu, and email safety@jinu.app.
- Expect a follow-up scam. Someone will offer to recover your money for a fee. They cannot, and that is the same people.
The full recovery sequence, and the reporting links themselves, are in I think I have been scammed.