Gift card fraud is the theft, coercion, or misuse of voucher and gift card codes through deception or impersonation. Attackers may pose as a bank, retailer, employer, or support agent and pressure a victim to reveal a code, forward a redemption email, or buy cards and share the numbers. Because the code itself is the value, the fraud can be completed quickly and often leaves little chance of reversal.
It matters in cyber security because gift cards are a common tool in phishing, social engineering, and account takeover scams. Criminals use them as a low-friction payment method for laundering stolen value or as bait in fake promotions and prize messages. Defenses include treating unsolicited requests for codes as suspicious, verifying the sender through official channels, using app-based or website-only redemption paths, and training users never to share voucher numbers, OTPs, or recovery codes with anyone who contacts them first.