Free gift cards come in different ways. Most of the times, these are offered as part of a promotion by a certain company. An example would be the gift card giveaway brought by Coles. Others sample includes random free and discounted gift cards offered by different blogs. Certainly, there are still scams anywhere, so you need to be extra careful in availing of these free gift cards.

One of the instances when consumers would want free gift cards is when you present your prescriptions to certain drugstores. These are actually seasonal depending on the current promo that these pharmacies are offering. Most of the time, they are valid and available for only a limited period of time.

Here are some of the pharmacies that currently offer or have offered free gift card before with either new or transferred prescriptions:

Note: It is still highly recommended to refer to your local pharmacy to check on the validity of any programs related to free gift card for new or transferred prescriptions

CVS Gift Cards. This was offered almost a year ago. Coupons were handed out to consumers and some were downloaded online. These are then presented to pharmacists together with new or transferred prescriptions.

$25 CVS Prescription Coupon
Receive a $25 CVS pharmacy gift card with any transferred prescription. The gift card can be used just like cash on future purchases at CVS pharmacy. ( For in store use only )

Transferring your prescription is easy. Just print the coupon and bring it to any CVS pharmacy with your prescription bottle, and they’ll do the rest…

Rite Aid Gift Card. Coupons were available for download containing the following text (Source Here):

Get up to $50 in Rite Aid gift cards when you transfer your prescriptions.** Coupons required for transfer offer. Certain limitations apply. See coupon and pharmacist for details.

*Coupon must be submitted and insurance card shown when prescription is dropped off. Coupon good thru 1/31/09. Medicaid, Medicare and any other federal and state gov-ernment or other publicly funded program prescriptions are not eligible. Customers who have redeemed a Rite Aid prescription offer in the last 6 months are not eligible. Limit one coupon per prescription and maximum of two coupons per customer. Offer only valid when prescription is filled and paid for at time of transfer. Transfer offer only valid on any prescription not previously
filled at or transferred from other Rite Aid locations. In New Jersey, offer valid only for citizens 60 years or older. Not valid in New York State. Not valid on prescriptions for controlled substances where prohibited by law. Rite Aid Gift Card can be used only for purchase of merchandise at any Rite Aid Drugstore and is not redeemable for cash, may not be returned, and will not be replaced if lost or stolen. Also, Gift Card may not be used for prescriptions, prescription co-pays, lottery tick-ets, tobacco, alcohol products, money orders, gift certificates, all prepaid cards, stamps, licenses, other mailing services, online purchases, and any other items excluded by law. v4

There are several sites offering free gift cards. You might have received an email or two saying that you can receive free $50, $75 or $100 gift cards by responding to the email or clicking on a link. Some will let you register for different free services or products. You will be required to provide information, select options or perks that suits your interests, and then go through the same process. Sometimes, you will be required to provide referrals by giving email addresses of somebody you know. Most of the sites that function in this typical setup are bogus.

Such email will contain subject or text saying something like:

• free gift cards no participation required
• free wal mart gift cards
• free 50 gift cards
• free kmart gift cards
• free itunes gift cards
• free clothing gift cards
• free printable gift cards
• free restaurant gift cards
• free visa gift card

Generally speaking, when an something presents itself as a high prize in exchange for an easy task, then chances are, that thing is fraud. There really is no such thing as easy money in this world.

While a lot of the gift cards offered are hoax (especially through unsolicited email), there are still those who offer legitimate gift cards. Why is it free? It’s because people use it for marketing purposes. Of course it’s totally not free since you will be required to do something like post a comment, link to an article, or sign-up to a membership site.

Most of those who provide free gift cards are bloggers, who in one way or another, takes advantage of the free gift card to attract as many customers as possible in exchange for higher returns. Most of the bloggers or webmasters who does this, offers a free gift card in exchange for small tasks. In this case, the value of the gift cards ranges from $5 to at most $25 or $50. Other bloggers who offer free gift cards at $50 or $100 and up usually does it through a lottery or a draw. This means that they let everyone do one specific thing – probably sign-up or subscribe to a certain website or purchase a certain product then provide a proof of purchase or transaction. All those who joined or availed will then be included in the raffle.

Other bigger companies offer legitimate free gift cards. One good example is the Coles Giant Gift Card Giveaway promo. In this promo, to earn a Coles Gift Card of any denomination from $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 and more, you need to accumulate points. These points are earned every time you spend $30 or more in one transaction or through buying specially marked products. Many businesses engage in such promos to attract more and more customers. The more popular it is the better. This is specially true during holiday season or any sale period.

The point is to make sure that if ever you’re interested in free gift cards offered by a website, you need to be very careful before totally trusting it because any action done will be at your own risk.