Steam Gift Card scam?

some people like the idea of giving gift cards instead of money, they consider it a more thoughtful gift.

gift cards wouldn't exists if there weren't such people

until we recently changed the system, bank transfers ran the risk of you accidentally transferring the money to the wrong account number and having a mare are getting it back

handing over folding money has no such risk

I thought that all banks checked payee details before allowing transfers these days but I was surprised to discover last week (whilst transferring £10,000) that this isn?t possible when transferring to Clydesdale/Virgin money accounts.

Don?t think I?ve ever checked sort code and account numbers more carefully in my life. ;-)

I hope that as payee checking becomes more normalised, banks that *don?t* do this will become liable for any losses incurred by account number errors.

Tim

gift cards are, in the majority of cases, only in existence because unimaginative people "have" to give a present to someone that they do not care about and the shops know that..

So given the possibility that there are genuine cases where this might not be a scam, you accept that calling a poster an idiot for *asking the question* was rather hash?

It was Rod. I wouldn?t normally make such accusations but I make exceptions for him. ;-)

John, you are without a doubt the fairest minded and most reasonable person in this group but I think you?re bending over backwards to legitimise what is 99.9% certain to be a scam in this case.

Yes, there is a tiny possibility that it?s not but given the amount of money, for a relation of a friend, by a means that most folk are not familiar with and requesting the codes by photograph is just waving so many red flags that I?m a bit amazed that you consider it possibly legitimate.

Tim

If it was, sorry I had not realised that was one of his socks... in which case feel free to call him anything you like :-)

I fully agree that it sounds scammy (and as you might expect with my job, I do spend lots of time looking at such things!) however since there was scope for it being legit I was reserving judgement until more was known.

(also Steam gift cards seem a less ideal way of recovering useable cash when compared to many of the other more easy to spend or refund options available)

For what it's worth, I had tried to contact her, but her landline 'phone went to BT voicemail, and the mailbox was full, so I could not leave a message. I do not have a mobile number for her. I needed to leave the house quickly, as I had a dentist appointment, that had been brought forward from Tuesday. In these times, you do not risk losing a dentist appointment, so I posted my question here as I left. I do not listen to much radio, so I had not heard about this particular scam. I had, when I read the first message requesting the gift card, thought that about £10 or £15 would be involved. The sum of £300 was a show-stopper.

It's plain to see Rod would get suckered. Hook, line and sinker.

I concur, you are an idiot.