New Florida law targets gift card scammers, makes certain thefts felonies

MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — As the holiday shopping season approaches, gift card aisles in Southwest Florida stores will become a popular destination for shoppers. But these same aisles are also where many scams begin, and a new Florida law is cracking down on gift card fraud that costs Americans hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

WATCH: Fox 4's Eric Lovelace shows us a neighbor who says these scams are getting more believable:

Gift card-related fraud accounted for more than $200 million in scams across the U.S., prompting Florida lawmakers to take action with new legislation designed to tackle the growing problem.

Larry Smith, a Marco Island resident, said he almost fell victim to one of these elaborate schemes recently.

"They're getting more elaborate and much better at it," Smith said. "It looked legitimate."

Scammers often pose as establishments people trust, and in Smith's case, they pretended to be his bank.

"They said okay, you need to call our fraud department. I'll give you the number they gave me an 800 number, somebody answered, said 'Capital One fraud department', everything sounded legitimate," Smith said.

But he soon realized something else was going on.

"They said no I need you to go to a grocery story and buy a gift card and send it to this address, then I knew, you know," Smith said.

Smith caught the scam in time, but many others in Florida and across the country have not been so fortunate.

In 2023, gift card fraud accounted for $217 million in losses nationwide according to the Federal Trade Commission. Florida is one of the nation's leaders in the per capita rate of fraud and identity theft complaints.

State Sen. Nick DiCeglie, the bill's sponsor, hopes the new law will deter criminals from targeting Florida residents.

"We really didn't have any accountability or enforcement for this kind of activity," DiCeglie said.

The bill's language covers most of the ways gift card scams are operated. Under the new law, gift card fraud becomes a third-degree felony if the scammer steals $750 or more. The crime comes with potential jail time and a $5,000 fine.

"We didn't have laws in place to deal with that, and the good news is now that we do," DiCeglie said.