Reports of fraudulent pre-paid credit cards have been common this holiday season, with several Okotokians having encountered them.

The cards are bought in-store, and are reported to look very convincing.

Cheryl Sholter, who is one of a few Okotoks residents who shared their story of fraudulent cards on Facebook, says she wasn't immediately aware there was something wrong with the card.

"I go to make my purchases not looking at the card, because I've never had issues before, and it came back 'card invalid.' I thought I'd go on the MasterCard website and type in the number and it came up in big red letters 'FRAUDULENT CARD.'"

She says after taking a second look at the card, there was a telltale sign.

"On the very bottom corner, the paper was kind of overlapping, so I kind of peeled it back again, and the original bar-code was there underneath. Honestly, you won't even be able to tell until you open the package, and the package had no signs of tampering at all."

Tia Hagen shared her own experience with a fraudulent card to Facebook as well as the media after discovering a fraudulent card and struggling to get in touch with anyone who could issue a refund.

She first notified the store, who confirmed they had had multiple similar reports, and have since removed the cards from their display.

After several attempts to contact Blackhawk Network, the company reached out to her, telling her they'd send a replacement card.

They also told her they'll be launching an internal investigation in the matter.

She was also contacted by the owners of COBS Bread Okotoks, who offered her $200 worth of gift cards after hearing about her experience.

Hagen says she plans to share the generous offer.

"Honestly, the note itself was Christmas cheer enough for us. Definitely as a family, we don't need them and this was just a Christmas gift, our Christmas wasn't ruined; so we're going to share some of those gift cards with Rowan House."

She says the other half will be donated to another Okotoks charity organization.

Hagen says as always, the community has shown its support.

"Okotoks has just been amazing, and the people on Facebook, for the most part have been amazing. It's just a show of our really great community."

The Better Business Bureau has heard many similar reports from across the province, and suggests avoiding the cards altogether for the time being, recommending cash gifts instead.

They also encourage anyone who has encountered these fraudulent cards to file a report on their website.

 

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