The gift card industry is booming and so is related fraud and organized crime [Video]

Joan Oanes says she was baffled to learn a gift card she had purchased had been drained of all its money. 

The $50 Lululemon gift card was bought last October at a Shoppers Drug Mart location in Brampton, Ont., and given to her sister-in-law in December.

“The receipt is there. It says it’s activated,” said Oanes. “How come there’s no money in it?”

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Martin Paquette, in Oakville, Ont., knows the feeling. The $50 Sephora gift card he bought for his daughter for Christmas at Walmart was also emptied of its entire value.

“My daughter was embarrassed, to say the least,” said Paquette. “We were informed that it was used for an in-store purchase on Dec. 25, which seemed a little strange to us because no stores are open.”

Big business, big theft

The gift card industry in Canada is booming and is expected to balloon from about $11 billion in …