(KRON) — Campbell police have arrested two people who allegedly organized a gift card scam at a local store. Police said officers found more than 500 gift cards in the suspects’ car.
On Saturday, police were called to the store because someone had placed tampered cards in the store’s inventory so customers could make purchases. A second suspect was waiting in a car outside.
According to Campbell police, the suspects stole blank gift cards and replaced them with compromised cards.
Their plan involved a customer purchasing a compromised card, with the card number and PIN information in the suspects’ possession. After the victim loaded money onto the compromised card, the suspects were able to withdraw that money from the card, police said.
The suspects were identified as Jian Chen, 45, of Rosemead and Bifeng Xie, 32, of Riverside. They had a huge stash of gift cards in their car, including ones from Home Depot, Apple and Amazon, CPD said.
The same crime was reported in Santa Clara, and Chen matched the suspect’s description, police said. Chen and Xie were arrested on charges of obtaining money by false pretenses and conspiracy to commit a crime.
To help people avoid falling victim to these types of scams, CPD has the following tips for you:
- Buy gift cards online to limit the possibility of physical alteration
- Check gift cards before purchasing
- Do not buy cards that show signs of tampering
- Keep your gift card receipt. In case of fraud, you may be able to get your money back.
- Use gift cards as soon as possible to prevent fraudsters from using up the balance
