SURPRISE: Woman discovers gift card balance scam

When it comes to gift cards, people are often told to treat them like cash. Now, some are learning that the same is true, when is you have to treat the receipt for the gift card like cash too.

"I have heard of scamming being a possibility with gift cards if they had a number, I could understand that," said Amanda Kay. "I have the gift card right here, and I had scratched the number off the back when I was about to use it."

Kay received a $200 target gift card as a baby shower gift, but when she used it to buy holiday toys, she discovered there was no balance. Shortly after buying the gift card, it appears someone found the receipt for it, and using information off that receipt, was able to get a replacement $200 gift card.

"My aunt may have lost the receipt or dropped it in the garbage," said Kay. "Somebody dug through the garbage and got the receipt and took the receipt to the store and said, 'I lost my card. Can you give me a new one?' and they reissued and sent out another one."

The family, however, is not out the $200.

"They are willing to resend a gift card to us, which is more than I thought they would ever do, and that's really saying something," said Kay. "It means a lot, but at the same time, we're disappointed in the world that people would scam us out of hundreds of dollars."

Stores are advising people to not throw gift card receipts away. The best thing to do is to give the receipt, along with the gift card.