California duo arrested in Plano for alleged 'gift-card draining' scheme

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Police say the scam involves criminals stealing unpurchased gift cards, getting their info and then resealing them to put back on store shelves. When someone buys a tampered card, the scammer then drains all of the money from the prepaid card.

Two people were arrested in Plano for an alleged gift card scheme involving several North Texas stores. Plano police arrested Xiaohong Zhang and Xiongling Chen, both of California, last week in connection to the scheme.Police say it’s a scam called "gift card draining."It involves scammers grabbing unpurchased gift cards from service kiosks and getting the card numbers and PIN codes. Once the scammers get the information, they reseal the cards and put them back on the shelves.

Through surveillance, they say Zhang and Chen were seen placing tampered gift cards back in store Kiosks across several North Texas stores, including in Plano.Plano police seized 4,100 tampered Apple gift cards valued at $649,000 in connection to the scheme."The Plano Police Department encourages the public to be vigilant when purchasing gift cards and to report any suspicious activity to the authorities," the department said in a press release.

Tx Collin County Plano News Crime Publicsafety Consumer

 

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