A scam draining Apple gift cards is spreading worldwide. While some perpetrators are being caught, you need to protect yourself. Gift card scams have existed for as long as there have been gift cards, but usually it's bad actors tricking users into paying huge sums with them. A New South Wales investigation has brought to light a different scam that is used for money laundering, and even funds human trafficking.

According to ABC News Australia, the scam works first by Apple and other gift cards being stolen from supermarket shelves. The codes from those cards are then taken and the cards put back on the shelves. Then when a customer buys the card and it is therefore activated with, say, $100 on it, the scammers spend the money. In New South Wales, the Coles supermarket chain spent a year building a case against one 32-year-old man, who was convicted of the fraud.

After he had been tracked and monitored repeatedly visiting multiple stores, police searched his home in Sydney in mid-2025. Overall, he had 56 Apple Gift Cards ranging from $100 to $500 in value. He was eventually convicted in July 2026, getting a 15-month suspended prison sentence plus a two-year community corrections order. "Gift card tampering and fraud is an evolving challenge affecting retailers and customers both in Australia and internationally," said a supermarket spokesperson. "Coles takes the issue extremely seriously."

The man arrested claimed to have been hired by a Chinese syndicate, though no other members have been detained. It is clear, however, that such scams are being perpetrated globally, including the US. "All of America's top 20 retailers were being affected," US Homeland Security's lead investigator Adam Parks said. Apple would not comment on the Australian report, but did say that its packaging was intended to prevent this kind of tampering. The company altered its card packaging in early 2025 to make the pack much harder to open and then reseal. You can order Apple Gift Cards online from Apple, and those will not have been tampered with. If you're buying at any retail point of sale, it's now essential to examine the packs carefully.