Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
I hope you have never ever been duped or fallen for any of the e-mail scams that hit your in-box each day. I mean, I would never send my info to claim some “prize” (plus I only ever enter contests where I can fly 1st class if I win)! However, with an alert from my local CVS rep, it seems that the latest scam is to:
“Purchase a Vanilla Reload for $500 to process your prize”!
Again, I can not dream of anyone allowing themselves to be tricked by one of these but the rep was very insistent that they have received the warring to let all customers know and ask them why they are buying a $500 reload card. I just said, no, I have other uses for them but appreciated her warning me and looking out for me.
From KLM & Delta Phishing e-mails to so many others, always please think before you click; be careful with any info you ever give anyone over the web or via email! Also be careful of the latest Instagram, Facebook or text to your phone scams. On a more positive note, and you are new to Delta Points blog, by PROPERLY using using Vanilla Reloads or Visa debit cards to help meet your spend on your last round of frequent flyer credit cards can be a great way to get this done without spending money on things you do not need. I buy thousands of dollars of Vanilla Reload cards each month and enjoy the points that go along with them and you should too! – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
But the Nigerian prince told me vanilla was his favorite flavor
@Joseph – ugg yes!
I would like with you to share a very large inheritance of $1000000 USD. Purchase your vanilla reload and I will effect payment swiftly.
@Barrister – yep that direction. Crazy!
There’s been a long-running scam on VRs in Atlanta for almost a year now. And it’s much more pernicious than this.
@KLK – wow thanks for sharing.
Try the new Chocolate cards and win your share of the $$$, up to One Million dollars!
Make sure to check the scratch off area for any suspicious looking smudges or off-center placement. The scam involved using a knife to slice it off, steal the code, scratch out part of the code, then put the scratch off material back on.
InComm came out with new security features, like diagonal text that will look bad if its experienced tampering. Some things to look out for!
The CVS stores in my area of Atlanta keep the VR cards hidden underneath the counter, totally out of sight. You have to ask for them. The store clerks told me that there had been various scams and theft with VRs, so they will always be kept under the counter. I stick to buying them locally; I don’t feel safe buying anything that is out on a rack for anyone to grab.
The latest scam is now on instagam. The guy ask you to connect him, tell you his brother is a banker, and will offer you a percent of the money his brother transfers to the card.
INSTAGRAM -VANILLA RELOAD CARD SCAM!! A female under various names on Instagram and Facebook will tell you that she (or a relative) or someone she knows just got a promotion who works for Vanilla Reload and whatever amt. you load onto the card, they will put a “0” behind it in the system. Ex: $500, they will make it $5000. All you have to do is give her your scratch off # on the card, and she will change the amount for you.
NOTE: ONCE YOU GIVE OUT THAT #, YOU’VE JUST GIVEN YOUR MONEY AWAY! They can then apply the total value of your VR card to ANY PREPAID CARD THEY CHOOSE! AND VR WILL NOT REFUND YOUR MONEY because the transaction was authorized by you.
Plus, the maximum amount any VR card can hold at one time is $500! Go to the vanilla reload site and see for yourself. BE SAFE! USE COMMON SENSE!
I purchased a Vanilla Reload at a CVS and the funds immediately went into someone else’s account! Credit card company says the sale is valid, Vanilla reload the money went into a “known account” (and wouldn’t tell me) but told me to file a police report and have the office call their law enforcement department. Better Business Bureau responded it was a valid charge. Three months later: nothing has happened and I’m out $500 and the credit card company wants paid.
This guy on Instagram claims to be doing the same thing and his scam lots out of their money, I hate I have become a victim of his scam if you’re on Instagram look up at Goodlife Rico,i I also have pictures and everything because he was someone I trusted but did the same thing with this vanilla card reload I am now out of money and this is right before Christmas how stupid am I.. however I’ve always been talk if you are open to give you are open to receive so karma will definitely get him
I can honestly say I am someone who always does research when it comes to scams and things that sound too good. However I fell prey to this IG scam from people who seemed like good people. Honestly I only fell for it because I am about to be homeless and sometimes when we are in dilemmas like that we just don’t think straight. That’s what happened to me I just didn’t think straight. Normally SCAM would have went off in my head before I even conjured up a stupid idea like sending money to a stranger. In my case the person was saying they could turn your $200 into $2000 but they never told me how they were going to do it. I’m so ashamed I only got up the nerve to tell my very best friend. I think I will take this experience to my grave rather than let people who know me and know how much of a skeptic I am, know that I was conned. As I told my friend I was a stupid fool and got what I deserved I guess. Hopefully I won’t be a stupid homeless fool soon. 🙁
I am a pretty smart person, so I thought. I received a call that about flipping money and all I had to do was put money on to a pre-paid card. Silly me. Why would you have to pay money to get money..duh! But it sounded pretty good so I went for it. I am now out of $500 because I got desperate. I had a lot of things coming up and I was afraid I wasn’t going to have enough money. Well now I see what desperation gets you. DON’T FALL FOR IT!!!! IT IS A SCAM!!!! SCAM SCAM SCAM!!!
@Joselyn – only if you don’t do it the right way. I run $5,000+ on Vanilla Reloads each month and enjoy the points from it. But if you fall for any of the scams, you will be out your money yes!
I can honestly say that I should have know better. I received a friend request from a lady. I accept and so she inbox me and said that if I want to make so easy money all I would have to do is get a vanilla reload card. Whatever amount the I put on there that her brother could add a 0 behind it. That all he want is 500. So I was desperate and fell for it. Now he will not answer is phone or text messages and she has unfriend me on facebook. Well obviously this is a scam by them not answering the phone and unfriend me on faceebook. I let my lost be my lesson. I should have know this was to good to be true. Now I am out of 500 Do not fall for this people. Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IM SO HAPPY I LOOKED AT THIS.. i was literally 24 hours away from doing that same thing, some girl followed me on Instagram and told me to put 100$ on a vanilla card… THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! u just saved me a hundred bucks people ^^^
Total scam dude said he would flip $200 to $2000 haven’t heard from him since. Can’t access the funds either smh shoulda checked up on it first my dumb on my part but still anyway what shoulda caught my eye is that his number kept changing name on IG is Billiondollarmade BEWARE!!!! Also another girl showgrl_ she does it too do beware of the SCAM!!!!!!!!
@Danisha – yes never trust anyone to do anything this way. The only good way is to buy with a points / rewards credit card to help either meet spend or earn points!
im glad I did not do this Im glad I goggled it this guy had text omly 201 xxx xxx TONY out of Secaucus, nj I seen it on craigslist 2/3/14 under general labor he said 25=250 50=500 75=750 100=1000 and so on I told him I wanted to do 25 and he said its all filled up lol text him and told him I goggled it never a text back DONT DO IT
How do we stop them??? I got got too and Im furious. I know I’m the one fell for the okie doke but hey when your broke, doubling your money sounds good at the time. So wish I would have researched before I fell for the scam.
IM SOOOOOOO GLAD I SAW THESE POSTS BECAUSE THERE ARE 2LADIES ON INSTAGRAM DOING THIS (KRISTINA_ CARTER. AND MELISSA JEAN AKA VANILLA CORP) I TEXT BOTH THESE LADIES LAST NIGHT AND ASKED THEM WHAT I NEEDED TO DO,,,,,BUT THAT LIL ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER SAID GOOGLE FIRST. PEOPLE PLEASE NE CAREFUL
Please beware of a guy name Good_Money20 on Instagram who is scamming people when they purchase the vanilla reloadable card. This guy has the nerve to post fraudulent pictures of money and people holding lots of money claiming that this is legit. He is convincing people that he can turn 200 dollars into 2,000 dollars. Unfortunately, I am a victim of this hideous scam….This guys page needs to be deleted and he needs jail time! BEWARE…… 🙁
I’m actually more than glad I saw these comments!! I was almost about to give away my money to someone else. Now that I realized these people are scamming numerous amounts of people, I actually feel a hundred dollars richer than what I usually was! And I only have a hundred at this moment. Wow, thank you everyone!!!! 😀 Now I’ll be smarter towards choosing how to spend my money instead of squandering it!
Im glad i saw this!!! I was at CVS about to purchase the card and give this guy the number when I saw this and put the card back!!!! Send this to the guy & never heard back
I got SCAMMED for ($100) and I want to know if I can get my MONEY back if possible ????
@devante – no.
I was emailed regarding USA payday loan. I was contacted and told I was approved for a $1500 loan. I was told that I needed to purchase a Vanillla Network Voucher card and deposit $110.00 on the card this was to verify that I would be able to make my monthly payments. I was assured over and over again that this was not a payment and that they would not take this money off my card. I was to call and give them the activation number and as soon as they verified that I had deposited the money on the card they would deposit $1500 in my checking account within 30-45 minutes. I could then go and use my card for purchases. When a hour was up and I hadn’t heard from them telling me the money had been deposited in my account, they said the man Eric Jackson I talked to would call me in 10 minutes. he called 20 minutes later and said someone would call. I got a call form a gentlemen saying there was some problem with the IRS that I owed some taxes or something and they could not process my loan at this time until I paid the IRS taxes I assured him I didn’t owe nor I was going to pay. I had seen on the back of the Money card warning of this scam unfortunately after I had gave them my card number. I called the Money card number on Back card and reported the fraud and theft. I told USA payday loans they need to put my money back on my card because I did not authorize them to take it off and they assured me numerous times they would not. Money Card is putting a trace on who took my money off my card and I will be filing a criminal complaint tomorrow at my local police station for fraud and theft. This happened at 3/10/2014.
Omg…if i had read this this guy on instigram wouldn’t hv got my $150…i was soo stupid that i wanted to flip $150 into $1500.And after i gave him the # on the back of the card i never heard from him again…nd i cant call him either…
Same thing was about to happen to me i was gone load my last $200.00 this is crazy my question is this though where are the police?? I thank u alllllllllll so much i thank God i was taught to do resesrch allways. Thanks so much!!!!!!!!
This lady on instagram @ashleycashin21 told me to purchase a vanilla card to make fast money . And all i would have to do is put money in the account and whatver amount i put she will add a 0 to it . But i googled it because it seemed sketchy , and now i find its a fraud . She told me she wrks at walmart and she can access the vanilla reload database. FAKE ! fRAUD !
there is a guy by the name of michael joseph on face book saying he can flip $200 to $2000 and he keeps promising me it isn’t a scam has anyone heard of him..
I’m so glad i researched this before i acted.
A new one popped on on Facebook. BEWARE of Jasmin Martinez. Same scam!!
Look out for this name on Instagram (imsmiley_stackkks)
Iam glad I read this because I was in cvs in I put 400 on the reload in then I thought about it like this is weird this ain’t gonna work so I took it off in I told the scammer that iam good
there’s a girl on IG that calls herself amanda__gates she is doing the same thing I was about to go put $100 on a vanilla reload thank god I did my research and bumped into this, money can make you do a lot of dumb stuff
Wow, I was about to pay money today till I found this webisite,thank you
@Andrea – now please never pay money to stay at hotels or fly, use points! 🙂
I applied for a loan. The bank just called me and wants me to make my first payment as they transfer the money to my account, with a vr…I was so excited and ready to go out and buy the card tomorrow but now I’m not so sure….I really need the money….6000$ on a 40 month no interest loan…what am I gonna do now :'(
@heather – that all sounds so fishy and wrong I would stay away from it.
@heather– definitely a scam… 40 month no interest loan? that means “the bank” gets nothing in return for lending you the money– hopefully you did not proceed forward with this transaction @_@
I almost did it….So happy I didn’t fall for it. thanks guys!!!
Beware of the scam artist by the name of Dominique Rene on Facebook, frm Philadelphia. Claiming to work for My Vanilla company in Administrations!!
yes i also fell victim to a scam on instagram that promised to flip money . the site “candydoll bands” displays pictures of common everyday people holding money that they have supposdly flipped from investing $200 and turning it into $2000. It also promises 100% back money guarantee and scam free. they ask you to load it onto a vanilla prepaid card and the process should take 30 minutes to go through. Once I gave my card info via text message to the women pictured on the site she stopped texting and returning my calls. be very aware. If it looks to go to be true then it is.
I dcvd the same request from “princess diamond” i only had 90 dollars which she accepted and then told i needed to load her 250 so she could release the fund, then my red flag came on and i looked into it. When i refused to load a card for 250 and asked to get my 90 back she threaten me to report my name in a federal fund investigation if i didn’t give her her cut. since i never answered she said she had done it… what should i do?
I was told I was approved for a loan of 3500 and all I had to do was purchase the VR and put 161.00 dollars on it and I would be given that money and the loan back within 20minutes. I am sad to say I have already been duped once for $80 for a green dot card scam. I really need this loan but am afraid to lose what little funds I have to fraud. people use American names saying they are from GE Capital One Bank, number is a NYC number and the accent is definitely NOT American.
On Instagram it’s a woman by the ig name “lilygetsitdone” she has about 6000 followers and she truly gain your confidence to trust her… I put 300 on the card and within ten minutes she took my money and I hope she reap what she sow…