This is true. Check it out at: http://www.snopes.com/fraud/sales/giftcard.asp

Dang, thieves are stealing things now before you even get them in your hands... Well the crooks have found a way to rob you of your gift card balance.

If you buy Gift Cards from a display rack that has various store cards you may become a victim of theft. Crooks are now jotting down the card numbers in the store and then wait a few days and call to see how much of a balance THEY have on the card. Once they find the card is “activated‡, and then they go online and start shopping.

You may want to purchase your card from a customer service person, where they do not have the Gift Cards viewable to the public. Please share this with all your family and friends...

Pretty soon the only way to pay for something is going to be with cash again. I'm thinking that may be a good thing though.

Yes it would be a good thing, but online stores would go down hill. Well unless the people who make counterfeit money figure out that they need to make small bills like 5’s or 10’s (maybe 20’s, but no 50’s or 100’s) because no one checks to see if they are real or not.

Yeah, but maybe all of the online stores could go to paypal or something.

hmmmmm.... i think i just figured out how to pay for christmas!