New legislation, effective Tuesday, June 20, requires businesses selling gift cards in New York to post notices warning customers of gift card scams.
A notice must be posted near where any gift cards or gift certificates are displayed or sold.
The law was introduced by Sen. Kevin Thomas of Long Island, a Democrat whose 6th Senate district covers central Nassau County. Thomas chairs the Senate Consumer Protection Committee.
“I am pleased to see the State Department take steps to implement these guidelines to protect New Yorkers from potential victims of financial fraud,” Thomas said in a statement.
Gift card scams, in which people are tricked into buying gift cards to pay alleged fines or other dubious charges, are growing in popularity, according to the New York State Department of State.
“Over the past few weeks, the Department of State has worked hard to communicate to businesses and consumers about this important new law designed to educate and protect consumer consumers are protected from gift card fraud.”
“We want businesses to follow the law, and we want to help raise public awareness of these increasingly popular scams, so we encourage any business that isn’t already doing so to post warning notices wherever gift cards are displayed or sold.”
According to the FTC, nearly 65,000 consumers will file complaints related to gift card fraud in 2022, totaling $228.3 million in fraud.
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