What are the red flags of this scam?

A gift card recipient finds the balance is $0.00 even though you just activated it at checkout — the card may have been tampered with on the shelf • The scratch-off PIN area on an unopened card looks disturbed, bubbled, or re-covered when you inspect it in-store • The shrink-wrap or packaging seal has a slight ridge or appears to have been carefully re-wrapped • You check the Apple gift card balance online immediately after purchase and it already shows zero • The promotion is a supermarket special on Apple gift cards — high-traffic promotions bring out tampered stock because criminals place more cards during peak periods

What should I do if this happened to me?

Inspect the scratch-off PIN panel before purchasing — if it looks disturbed, choose a different card or buy from behind the customer service counter • Check the balance on Apple's website (appleid.apple.com/redeem) as soon as you activate the card — before wrapping it as a gift • Consider digital Apple gift cards sent by email instead — they cannot be tampered with on a store shelf • If you received a drained card, report it to the retailer immediately with your receipt — Coles and Woolworths have processes to handle tampered card cases • Report to Scamwatch at https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam or ReportCyber at https://www.cyber.gov.au/report.

HIGH marketplace Last reported: 29 Sept 2026 Share

Apple gift card from Woolworths or Coles is empty — criminals drained it off the shelf

Q: Is this a scam?

Yes. This is a documented scam pattern. Organised crime removes Apple gift cards from supermarket racks, records the card number and PIN under the scratch panel, reseals the packaging, and replaces them. When you activate the card at checkout the balance drains within minutes. Affected cards from $25 to $500 sold at Woolworths and Coles.

Organised crime removes Apple gift cards from supermarket racks, records the card number and PIN under the scratch panel, reseals the packaging, and replaces them. When you activate the card at checkout the balance drains within minutes. Affected cards from $25 to $500 sold at Woolworths and Coles.

Also known as: Apple gift card scam Australia, tampered gift card Coles Woolworths, drained gift card Australia, empty Apple gift card supermarket, iTunes card tampered Australia

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

1 Call your bank or card's fraud line right now. Use the number on the back of your card — not any number from the message or caller. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and freeze the account.
2 If you paid by gift card, wire, or an app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App): contact that company immediately and report it as fraud. Acting fast sometimes recovers the money.
3 Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The sooner, the better.

What to do right now

1 Inspect the scratch-off PIN panel before purchasing — if it looks disturbed, choose a different card or buy from behind the customer service counter
2 Check the balance on Apple's website (appleid.apple.com/redeem) as soon as you activate the card — before wrapping it as a gift
3 Consider digital Apple gift cards sent by email instead — they cannot be tampered with on a store shelf
4 If you received a drained card, report it to the retailer immediately with your receipt — Coles and Woolworths have processes to handle tampered card cases
5 Report to Scamwatch at https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam or ReportCyber at https://www.cyber.gov.au/report.

Red flags

⚠ A gift card recipient finds the balance is $0.00 even though you just activated it at checkout — the card may have been tampered with on the shelf
⚠ The scratch-off PIN area on an unopened card looks disturbed, bubbled, or re-covered when you inspect it in-store
⚠ The shrink-wrap or packaging seal has a slight ridge or appears to have been carefully re-wrapped
⚠ You check the Apple gift card balance online immediately after purchase and it already shows zero
⚠ The promotion is a supermarket special on Apple gift cards — high-traffic promotions bring out tampered stock because criminals place more cards during peak periods

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

What to do right now

Red flags

Sources