Why we built gift cardsWe built gift cards so every member could turn their PLUS rewards into something real: groceries, coffee, travel and the brands you use every day, with bonus credits on top. It is one of the most used parts of Plutus, and keeping it fair matters to us more than anything.
Gift cards in numbersSince the October 2024 launch, over 9,000 members have bought $1.5M of gift cards, and since the new version relaunched on 25 April 2026, over 1,000 members have bought over $500,000. More than 50% of you used it exactly as built, with credits you purchased and the bonus credits we gave you under its terms.
Bonus misuseA staggering 46% did not. They farmed bonus credits, recycling the same funds on cash like brands, costing up to $100,000 to the gift card float funded by our treasury. Others used a loophole on promotional bonus credits, outside the daily 10% bonus credit spending limit, and never bought a single credit or paid for a plan. They were suspended and their unused gift cards confiscated, and many have since complained on Reddit without the full context.
Card fraud and paused paymentsThe same pattern reached card payments. Chargeback fraud cost us over $50,000, from a coordinated card fraud ring buying credits to recycle them through cash like gift card brands. So card payments for plans and credit top ups were paused in July and August, when over 95% of our active monthly subscribers still received their other benefits for free, with no plan charges then. Yet anonymous users on a subreddit evading two previous bans claim “unauthorised charges”, which cannot happen once opted in to plan renewals with 3D Secure.
Not used the app and forgot to turn renewals off? Your refund is approved instantly via the one click link in every billing email, unlike Netflix or any other subscription service.
Misuse impact on the gift card floatRight after the relaunch, April and May alone brought just under $500,000 in gift card sales, that's most of the total volume for 2026 during the launch months, with little to no downtime. The misuse that followed severely drained the float, forcing buy limits that hurt your experience. We have since recovered some losses from revenue, with the goal to reinvest in our prefunded gift card float, and from September, daily volumes rose until last week.
Last week's attackStarting 23 October, there was a coordinated attack on the whole gift card ecosystem, leading to outages at several suppliers. It started with the Plutus gift card float, and we spent days closing attacks on our systems. Our monitoring blocked them, so the attackers turned to our partners and gift card suppliers, who have been severely affected, impacting all their partners and tens of thousands of their customers.
What our forensics foundOur forensics team traced the device fingerprint and IP to a KYC'd Plutus user. All linked accounts are suspended, and the details have been reported to the legal authorities to recover damages and hold those involved accountable publicly.
What our partners foundOur partners' investigation also found their support teams overwhelmed by several hundred tickets, used as a distraction, with many people claiming to be Plutus customers sent over from Reddit. Please do not be misguided by the ring leaders of these anonymous forums. They are not a support channel.
Who is behind the forumsThese forums were created by users we removed for repeated terms violations or for criminal activity, some of whose funds remain blocked at Modulr as required by law. Those involved continue to misguide customers who may have had a poor experience, such as not being able to use gift cards or pay for a plan, a delay on the new card, or a subscription charge, all of which have been covered in previous emails and are also published here for your guidance: support.plutus.it/help/common-issues-2026-transition.
All users and incidents have been reported, and those hiding behind the temporary anonymity social media companies give them will be named through the legal channels.
Your experienceIf you used gift cards as built, your experience looks very different from what you may have read from anonymous accounts on the banned forums, which are mainly the cause of the issues customers often face on the app. Taking part in these forums only fuels the issue you are having, and only benefits those who are now under criminal investigation. Rest assured, we will not stop until gift cards are operating 24/7, without any restocking issues or spending limits. We know the recent experience has not been great, and it impacts us more than it impacts you. We earn above 5% margin and want high volume gift card sales, but constant attacks, now reaching our suppliers, have held that growth back since the launch. This is the same reason why we have not yet revealed the supplier of your new upcoming Plutus card.
Where things stand now
Gift card statusAt the same time as these attacks on 23 to 28 October, our gift card suppliers took their platforms offline after security incidents on their side, and they remain offline while they deal with these incidents. Their brands stay paused until they are back, so you may notice downtime until further notice. Some of our suppliers have released a public status page, which you can track here: 1. trust.tillo.tech 2. globetopper.statuspage.io.
Your credits, data and other featuresNote: your credits and data are safe. The attack targeted our and our suppliers' API keys to steal Bitcoin backed and similar gift cards. The recent coordinated attack, which appears to have been started by a Plutus user (now suspended, along with over 300 other accounts linked to these and similar attacks, and those involved in bonus misuse), had no impact on the tech stack or the system's security, but similar activity, on gift cards and through bank and card linked fraud since the Contis and Modulr era, has cost us an estimated $7,000,000. Our suppliers report no financial losses and have assured us all data remains safe and segregated. Other features are not affected: miles and hotel bookings are still active, and you can keep using your credits on them as normal.
Honest reviews and partner supportSome of these groups urge members to mass post negative reviews and flood partner support. Our service has not been perfect, but please judge our work since 2015, not one tough transition. Joining a coordinated review campaign, or asking friends and family for bad reviews, helps those removed from the app who want its features to fail, which impacts you and all other customers, particularly PLU stackers. Flooding partners also blocks help for those in need: Checkout.com says it is suspending processing. Users claiming to be sent from Reddit overloaded its support as a coordinated attack made 1,100+ sign ups and credit purchase attempts in under an hour during the same period, so subscription charges, credit top ups or refunds may be affected.
Getting helpWe apologise for your experience; this is not what we worked so hard to build over the last decade. In crypto we attract a certain type of user: every step forward costs us two steps back, which affects your experience and your trust in Plutus, and now affects our partners too. Please stay cautious. If you are upset, tell us in the comments on X and we will address it. You can also email support@plutus.it, chat to PlutusAI on our website, or join our Discord to speak with genuine customers who use every feature as designed.