Using your credit card to buy a gift card could put some of the cost back into your account. If you have a flat-rate cash-back credit card , you can earn cash back for buying the gift card.

And those gift card companies want to give that money back," the FTC said in its blog post. Here are steps, highlighted by the agency, that consumers should take if they suspect they have been conned.

Police nationwide are urging consumers to be on high alert for a cruel "card draining" scam that is rendering gift card purchases at Target and other retailers worthless. "I was really shocked by ...