Target Sale of Previously-Accessed iTunes Gift Cards Class Action

How would you like to buy a number of Apple iTunes gift cards, load $1,000 onto them, and then discover that someone else has simply drained that money from them? That’s what happened to Shukai Chen, one of the plaintiffs in this class action. The complaint alleges that Target sells the gift cards, knowing full well that scammers can access the funds loaded onto them, but refuses to provide refunds for the stolen money.

The class for this action is all those who bought an Apple iTunes Gift Card from a Target retail store, whose funds were reduced or depleted by a third party who had tampered with the Apple iTunes Gift Card before the purchase.

Shukai Chen, one of the more than thirty plaintiffs in this case, lives in California. Sometime around November 24, 2019, she bought multiple iTunes cards at a Target store in that state. Then, she loaded around a thousand dollars onto the various cards.

Five days later, on November 29, when she tried to use the cards, she found that after Target had activated the cards, scammers had drained the money from the cards. Chen filed a complaint with Target, but Target refused to refund the money.

According to the thirty-one named plaintiffs in this class action, this is not an unusual occurrence. Many people buy these cards, load money onto them, then find that the funds have been taken immediately by unknown parties.

How does this happen? Target has the unsold cards out on racks, allowing access to their important features. It’s not that difficult for scammers to come into a store, remove a piece of security tape on the card, and record the sixteen-digit activation code underneath. They then wait until a customer buys the card and loads money onto it, then remove the funds from the card account.

The complaint alleges, “Target failed to take adequate and reasonable measures to ensure that scammers did not tamper with the Gift Cards and failed to disclose to its customers the material fact that it was possible that the Gift Cards had been tampered with.”

According to the complaint, Target could have prevented or taken steps against tampering with the cards: “For example, Target could have trained its employees to physically check the Gift Cards for tampering of the security tape, or warned customers…. Target could also have used security devices or procedures to prevent the cards’ security tape from being accessed by store visitors prior to checkout, such as by having the sellable cards accessible only to store personnel.”

The complaint alleges that Target has had enough complaints on the subject that it has known about the tampering, yet it has done nothing to protect customers from being taken advantage of by scammers who already have access to the cards.

The complaint alleges breach of implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, among other things.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Gift Cards, Loss of credits or gift card benefits