You see them in just about every store you shop in, colorful kiosks filled with gift cards. Gift cards for everything from coffee to movies to video games. What you don’t realize is those colorful cards can also be the currency of fraud.

Gift cards are one of the top ways today’s scammers steal money from their victims. They convince their targets to purchase gift cards and share the numbers and security codes. Once shared, the scammer drains the value of the card and disappears. Keep this in mind: if someone asks you to pay for something by gift card, it’s a scam.

Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam and remember, only scammers ask you to pay with gift cards.

Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at www.aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.