Buying a Skype Gift Card from a Supermarket? You could get Shafted!!

In many places, including Australia, there are a huge number of cards available on the shelves, Google Play, Skype, iTunes, Facebook, etc. People generally buy these in numbers sometimes for individual use or sometimes for even as gifts specially around birthdays and holidays. Now you or someone you gifted the card to tries to redeem it, you are presented with a screen that says "This card is already redeemed". Before you go WHAT!! or the person you gifted it to thinks what a cheapo you are to give them a used card. Please note that the concealing paint has not been removed and you might have just scratched it off now. The cards have no value till they are paid for and activated. However the concealed PIN numbers are not really concealed (as I discovered today).

This is the main reason why I am suggesting - DO NOT BUY Skype Gift cards from the supermarkets. Here's how the PIN is skimmed off your skype card without ever scratching the paint. Please do not so this to other people, This information is to inform you of how bad or how easy it is. Skype pushes you off to manage with third parties and does not take the onus of this crappy system.

If you have an iPhone, download NeoReader (one of the best BarCode readers on iOS and Free). Now scan the barcode below the protected PIN number, it is a longish 30 digit number with 11 digits that identify the physical card and the rest is your PIN.

I am sure there are many that have been prey to this Skype Gift Card, where despite purchasing these from the store, some work and some don't. No one retains the store reciepts and once you scratch to reveal the pin, the store cannot do much with the card in terms of refunds, etc.

The amounts on these are small, so people sometimes let go, however add up these $10+ for several hundreds that get scammed, that is mega dollars. Maybe someone can shed light on how this is legally a Scam and should be liable for stolen funds and hassle.

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