Buyers Beware: Holiday Season Gift Card Scams

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Buyers beware - if a website is offering up a deal that's too good to be true, that means it probably is.

Last month, the Better Business Bureau issued a statement alerting customers about the scam website, avadars.com, CBS2's Diane Macedo reported.

The website claims to offer goods at a discount, but only accepts Amazon gift cards as payment.

"According to multiple consumers, avadars.com does not deliver purchased goods, requests payment via Amazon.com gift cards, and does not respond back to customers after the order is placed and payment is made," the BBB said in a statement.

According to David Newman, of the FTC, this is a common scam avout the holiday season, since gift cards don't offer the same protections as credit cards.

"You just essentially mail them an envelope full of money," Newman said.

The FTC also warns they 'may post a few positive reviews about the site. They shut down the site before people post complaints - usually in less than a month - and open under a new name somewhere else.'

That's exactly how scam victim Daniel A-Louie says he got duped. A-Louie paid avadars.com in Amazon gift card money for a new barbecue.

However, after sending 15-20 emails to the website, A-Louie still did not receive his purchase.

A-Louie reached out to Amazon, but says they refused to freeze the unspent funds.

"The manager said you have to forget about it because we are not going to return your money," A-Louie said.

Instead, A-Louie disputed the original gift card purchase and got a refund from the bank.