Two men have been charged with stealing thousands of altered gift cards from Meijer stores in Michigan.
According to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, two Chinese nationals, Guangji Zhang, 46, of Irvine, California, and Huachao Sun, 35, of Los Angeles, were charged with one count of conducting a criminal enterprise and two counts of possessing a fraudulent or altered transaction device.
It is alleged that the two engaged in a large-scale fraud scheme that entailed swiping empty, unsold gift cards from retailers and obtaining their information before returning the gift cards to be purchased by others.
The AG’s office explains how the scam works. The two would steal unused gift cards from retail establishments. They would then expose their individual redemption numbers and record them.
The scammers would then disguise the redemption numbers using glue to make it appear as if they had not been tampered with before returning the gift cards to the business.
Then they would utilize computer tools to track when any card is activated with a balance of dollars. As soon as it’s activated, the scammer can move the balance to another digital account. When the gift card is presented and redeemed, it is already depleted.
The Attorney General’s office stated that the U.S. Postal Inspection Service launched the investigation after discovering a package with over 1,500 gift cards addressed to the two defendants at a Dearborn hotel.
When the men were arrested, they were found to have over 3,000 gift cards in their possession.
“Sophisticated fraud schemes undermine consumer trust and can cause significant financial harm, and I am proud of my FORCE Team for their efforts to shut down these operations and hold bad actors accountable,” Nessel said in a statement. “They will continue to pursue and prosecute those who engage in scams targeting Michigan residents and businesses. I urge everyone to stay alert and be cautious when buying gift cards. Taking a few extra moments to check for tampering can save you from becoming a victim.”
