Tips to help avoid gift card fraud and other fraud schemes:

  • Bass Pro and Cabela’s Gift Cards are the same as cash; please protect them as you would cash.
  • Bass Pro/Cabela’s Gift Cards can only be used for merchandise, food and beverages at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's retail or restaurant locations, Bass Pro Shops catalogs, or online at basspro.com, cabelas.com, or bigcedar.com; or at Bass Pro resorts (Big Cypress, Big Cedar, Top of the Rock or Buffalo Ridge). No legitimate government entity, including the IRS, Treasury Department, FBI or local police department, will accept any form of gift cards as payment.
  • Other businesses do not accept payments in the form of Bass Pro/Cabela’s Gift Cards. For example, you will never be asked to pay your utility bills, bail money, debt collection and hospital bills with Bass Pro or Cabela’s Gift Cards.
  • Do not purchase, sell, or check your balance on online marketplaces outside of cabelas.com or basspro.com.
  • It is not recommended to re-sell gift cards on social media sites, use a reputable gift card reseller who offers replacement guarantees.
  • Do not check balances while on speakerphone with a third party to validate a balance prior to re-sale. A bad actor can decode touch tones as you enter the gift card number and PIN into the phone.
  • If you get a call from a stranger who says that a loved one is in trouble and they ask you to provide gift card numbers to help them, hang up and contact your loved one directly.
  • Don’t always trust your caller ID. Scammers can manipulate or spoof a caller ID to look like a legitimate company or government agency.
  • Don’t purchase any gift card if it appears that the packaging has been altered or manipulated. If you have questions about a gift card, ask someone who works at that store.
  • Don’t click on or respond to online ads or websites offering free gift cards. These are often scams.
  • Bass Pro and Cabela’s will never call you to ask for personal information or credit card information after you purchase a Bass Pro or Cabela’s Gift Card. If you get a call from someone claiming to be from Bass Pro or Cabela’s and asking for information about your gift card, please hang up and call our customer service line to report the call.
  • Bass Pro and Cabela’s do not sell gift cards over the phone. If someone calls you offering to sell you a gift card, please hang up.
  • Bass Pro and Cabela’s do not send emails to you asking you to click on a link to register your gift card.. Scammers can spoof an email address and trick you into providing personal or payment information or to get you to click on a link that will allow them to send malware or viruses to your device.
  • Bass Pro and Cabela’s do not call or email you to ask you about your card’s balance. If you have a question about your balance, please call the number on the gift card or our customer service line.
  • If you think you’ve been the victim of a gift card scam, report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ftccomplaintassistant.gov.

Common gift card scams

The IRS Scam
Scammers call and claim that they are the IRS or other government agency (i.e. FBI, Law Enforcement, etc.) and that the victim owes that agency money. Sometimes the scammers say that the victim will lose their house or be arrested if they don’t pay immediately. The scammers then instruct the victims to purchase gift cards and give the gift card numbers to the scammer over the phone.
The Grandparent Scam
In this scam, the scammer will call a victim and indicate that a loved one is in some sort of trouble (i.e. kidnapped, arrested, etc.). Sometimes, the scammer even pretends to be the loved one and asks directly for money. The scammer then instructs the victim to purchase gift cards and give the gift card numbers to the scammer over the phone.
The Mystery Shopper
This is a scheme where scammers send a check and letter to victims and inform them that they can make money as a “mystery shopper” for a retail store. They try to get victims to deposit the fake check, create a cashier’s check and buy items at the store. The fake check bounces after the victim has sent gift cards and merchandise to the scammer. The scammer may also use this tactic to attempt to get personal information from the victim.

Work From Home Scams

“Check for Equipment” Purchase
This is a scheme where scammers monitor social media “looking for work” group posts and job board posts where people are posting their resumes looking for work. The scam artist will target the victim for a work-from-home position with lucrative pay, benefits, and the freedom to work from home. The “interview process” will take place via anonymous texting applications or social media messaging. They offer to send the victim a check for several thousand dollars to purchase office equipment such as a laptop computer, desk, and phone. The victim will receive a check via “Overnight Express” that looks legitimate and uses Cabela’s and/or Bass Pro’s logo, despite the victim applying for a job with a completely unrelated company. The victim will be instructed to deposit the check immediately via their bank’s mobile app. The victim will also submit a deposit slip to the scam artist set up a direct deposit when, in fact, this is a ploy to access not only the funds from the fraudulent check but also all the money in the victim’s account. Do not attempt to deposit any Bass Pro or Cabela’s check that is related to ANY work-from-home job or position.
Additional Resources:  Avoid being the victim of a scam.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): 
https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

Internal Revenue Service (IRS): 
https://www.irs.gov/uac/tax-scams-consumer-alerts

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - 10 Things You Can Do to Avoid Fraud: 
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0060-10-things-you-can-do-avoid-fraud

The National Council on Aging - Top 10 Financial Scams Targeting Seniors:
https://www.ncoa.org/older-adults/money/management/avoiding-scams

Fraud.Org - A Project of the National Consumer League:

http://www.fraud.org/home

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

  • Contact the FTC, which handles complaints about deceptive or unfair business practices. To file a complaint, visit https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/, call 1-877-FTC-HELP, or write to: Federal Trade Commission, CRC-240, Washington, D.C. 20580.
  • For updates on other types of potential scams, check out the FTC’s “scam alert” website at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts

Reporting suspicious or fraudulent behavior related to Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s:
Email: fraud@basspro.com / Fraud Hotline: 1-800-234-9137