Oahu gift card fraud victim made whole: ‘They made it right!’

HONOLULU (KHON2) — A Waikele resident feels whole again after being refunded hundreds of dollars that were apparently drained from his Walmart gift card.

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He reached out to KHON2 after initially not receiving fraud compensation.

KHON2 shared John Shaw’s gift card trouble on Tuesday, Aug. 27. He purchased it at the Pearl City Walmart and loaded it with $480 in late 2023 but did not touch it until May, 2024 when he checked his balance. The money had apparently been stolen and Shaw found out that he was a victim of gift card fraud.

“All gone,” Shaw said. “They were really mean about it too — the people that took the money — because they took like 98% of it and they came back for the last, almost every cent.”

Shaw sent KHON2 email correspondence with Walmart’s Customer Care Team, which initially told him that his case did not qualify for compensation. KHON2 reached out to Walmart and then company representatives got in touch directly with the Shaws.

“Oh, I was really relieved, and the person, she was really nice,” Shaw said. “They told me they wanted to pay me.”

Shaw had received a new $480 electronic gift card from Walmart by Saturday, Aug. 31.

The company confirmed to KHON2 that they have returned millions of dollars to customers who purchased gift cards as part of a scam in recent years and asked that holders call the number on the back of their card to report fraud first before filing a report with Customer Care online.

The Better Business Bureau said gift card fraud often occurs when scammers covertly peel back security stickers on gift cards that have not been sold in stores yet — then the fraudster copies the numbers down and reseals the card.

“Once those cards are activated and money is loaded on to them, they get an alert of some kind and they know, ‘Okay, now it’s time to go in and drain that account,'” BBB media engagement manager Cameron Nakashima said. “The crime is being committed before you even really get the gift card.”

Shaw has been trying to get his money back since May, but holds no hard feelings toward the big box company.

“It’s not really Walmart themselves,” Shaw said. “I have no hard feelings against Walmart, I think they did a terrific job. They said they will make it right, they made it right! That’s all I want.”

Walmart said in a statement:

“Walmart works hard to keep our customers safe from scammers and other criminals seeking to harm our customers. Walmart’s robust anti-fraud program has been effective at fighting fraud, and continuously evolves to respond to the fraudsters’ ever-changing tactics.”

Kelly Hellbusch, Walmart Global Governance Communications senior manager