Home Depot Impersonation Scams
Scammers impersonate Home Depot with fake sweepstakes, fraudulent order emails, and gift card demands. Home Depot will never require gift card payments to collect a prize or resolve an order dispute.
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
Home Depot's brand is used by fraudsters in gift card scams, fake prize notifications, and order confirmation fraud. Because the retailer operates a large gift card programme, scammers know the cards are easy to buy in-store and can be drained immediately.
A frequent scenario involves a caller claiming the victim has won a Home Depot sweepstakes and asking them to confirm their identity by purchasing a gift card and reading the code. Another pattern sends a fake high-value order confirmation and instructs the victim to call a number to cancel.
How scammers impersonate it
- Calling victims to announce a Home Depot prize requiring a gift card fee to claim
- Sending fake high-value order confirmation emails with a number to call to cancel
- Distributing fake Home Depot survey links that promise a gift card but harvest personal data
- Impersonating Home Depot HR with fake contractor or employee job offers requiring upfront payments
- Using spoofed Home Depot email addresses to add legitimacy to fraudulent messages
What the real organisation never does
- Require payment via gift card to release a prize or resolve any issue
- Ask you to call a number in an email to cancel an order rather than logging into your account
- Send prize notifications via cold call without an official registered contest entry
- Request personal financial information through a survey link
Common red flags
- Prize call mentioning Home Depot with a gift card fee requirement
- Order confirmation email with a call-back number rather than a link to your account
- Survey link claiming a Home Depot gift card reward that asks for card or bank details
- Job offer for Home Depot that requires you to buy tools or gift cards upfront
- Email sender domain that is not homedepot.com
Sanitized example messages
Illustrative, sanitized examples. Personal details are replaced with placeholders such as [phone number] and [fake link].
Call: 'Congratulations, you have won a Home Depot shopping spree! To verify you are not a minor, please purchase a $[amount] Home Depot gift card and read us the code.'
Email: 'Home Depot Order #[number]: $[amount] will be charged for [item]. To cancel, call [fake number] immediately.'
How to verify
- Check your Home Depot account directly at homedepot.com for any real orders
- Contact Home Depot customer service via the link at homedepot.com/c/customer_service
- Any genuine sweepstakes you entered will have an entry confirmation on the official contest page
- Never read gift card numbers to anyone claiming to represent a retailer over the phone
What to do if you're targeted
- Do not purchase or read gift card codes to anyone
- Verify independently through homedepot.com
- Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov
Frequently asked questions
I got a call saying I won a Home Depot prize — could it be real?
Legitimate prize notifications come from contests you deliberately entered and never require a gift card payment to claim. A cold call announcing a prize and requesting payment is a scam.