An Arizona-based woman who bought a $40 gift card for a co-worker learned that someone on the other side of the United States managed to take the money from the card.
Creator Ana Gonzalez (@anagainzalez), reporting on the phenomenon from her TikTok account, reached more than 734,000 viewers as of Saturday with her story.
“Target, what the actual f*ck, my guy?” she begins. “What the f*cking sh*t, bro?”
“So I get a call, relaxing on the couch,” she narrates. “It’s my co-worker Why is my co-worker calling? I don’t know. I answer it, he goes, ‘Ana, was just at Target and you know that gift card that you gave us, the $40 … there was no money on it.'”
Though the caller relayed, “I’m not tripping about the $40,” he allegedly also warned, “Just in case you actually paid for it, then I just thought you should know, because there’s no money on the card.”
@anagainzalez These scammers are getting magical with it bc what kind of sorcery #target ♬ original sound – Ana Gonzalez
Gonzalez registered embarrassment, but also frustration knowing she paid for the card, and was even able to produce the receipt so the co-worker could make a claim. But then he reportedly called back.
“And it turns out that someone in Salem, as in New Hampshire, already used the $40 which … we are in Arizona,” Gonzalez marvels. “How is that even possible?”
Specifically, she wonders, “How was it possible that someone in Salem, New Hampshire already used the f*cking money on the card.”
She then assesses, “The scammers, man, they’re getting advanced, bro. Like I genuinely want to know how they were able to get that f*cking money from that card.”
Commenters came in to assess the situation.
“I work at Target and you wouldn’t believe the amount of tampered gift cards that some stores find,” one commenter said.
Another shared, “It’s not just Target. It’s happening everywhere and there’s only so much the company can do about it. It happens ALL THE TIME! Dont buy GC yall.”
That led one commenter to conclude, “I’m just giving ppl cash in a envelope at this point.”
This isn’t the first time people have alleged scams associated with gift cards at Target—in November, the Daily Dot reported on a woman who took to TikTok to claim a scam involving $100 Apple gift cards at the retail giant.
The Daily Dot has reached out to both the creator and Target via email.
