HARRISBURG, PA – December 2, 2025 – As Pennsylvanians head into the busiest gift card purchasing period of the year, Senator Lisa M. Boscola (D-Northampton/Lehigh) announced she will introduce a two-bill, bipartisan package aimed at preventing the rising wave of “card draining” scams targeting holiday shoppers across the Commonwealth.
Gift card “draining” occurs when thieves record activation numbers from cards on store racks and then wait for unsuspecting shoppers to load funds. Once the card is activated, scammers immediately steal the balance online, long before the customer or recipient ever tries to use it. The US Department of Homeland Security has warned that many of these schemes are linked to criminal networks operating from the People’s Republic of China that use the stolen funds to support human trafficking and fentanyl distribution. Pennsylvania has seen an uptick in these incidents, and over two dozen other states have already responded with new laws and proposals to help curb the problem.
“Every year, thousands of Pennsylvanians give gift cards during the holidays because they’re simple and convenient,” Boscola said. “But too many families are discovering that their gift was emptied by a scammer before it was ever used. We should not allow criminals to take advantage of this season of generosity.”
Boscola’s forthcoming legislation includes two components:
- The Gift Card Tampering and Data Theft Act, creating a targeted offense for pre-activation tampering and the harvesting or possession of activation data from cards displayed for sale.
- The Gift Card Scam Prevention Warnings and Training Act, requiring retailers that sell third party gift cards to post standardized fraud warnings and provide basic employee training based on model materials supplied by the Attorney General.
Boscola emphasized that the package reflects bipartisan cooperation already taking shape in the Senate.
“This is a commonsense, bipartisan effort to protect consumers before they are defrauded,” Boscola said. “Shoppers deserve to know that the gift cards they buy are safe, and retailers deserve clear standards to help stop these schemes before they happen.”
The bill package will be formally introduced in the coming days, and additional co-sponsors are expected to join as the language is finalized. Boscola said she hopes to see action sooner rather than later, so consumers can benefit from stronger protections before next year’s holiday season.
“Pennsylvania should not be behind the curve on this,” she added. “If we act now, we can put real safeguards in place and give shoppers confidence that the gifts they purchase will reach the people they love.”
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