The latest scam to involve gift cards is a decidedly low-tech one.

It looks like someone crashed a bunch of weddings in California and stole the piles of gift cards (and cash) given to the bride and groom and has been doing so for several years.

The problem is that gift cards are usually about as untraceable as cash, but aren’t usually treated as such.   While it may be conspicuous for someone to walk out of a wedding with large boxes of gifts, raiding the gift card basket takes mere seconds and can net a crook thousands in gift cards and sometimes envelopes of cash.

This can be exacerbated by the fact that wedding receptions are often held in places and at times that are open to the public, and are often attended by a lot of people that don’t know each other, making it easy for a thief to steal while blending in.  And most people don’t expect theft at a wedding.  At our wedding one of our guests expensive digital camera was stolen.

Whether you are mailing your gift cards, receiving them at a wedding, or leaving them in your car, take the same precautions with gift cards as you would cash – make them look like something other than what they are, hide them, or guard them.