Two New York women were arrested for stealing over 4,600 gift cards from a CVS by tampering with packaging to expose card numbers, then draining funds the moment someone bought them. Check for altered packaging, scratched-off numbers on the back, and buy cards kept behind the counter.
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To a warning for really anyone buying gift cards this holiday season. Scammers have found a new way to steal the value of the gift card even before you buy it. And now police say this coast-to-coast crime has landed in our backyard. NBC 10's Michael Rosenfield joining us live from Braintree to explain how this scam works and to make sure it doesn't happen to you. Michael.
Yeah, Priscilla, shoppers have to be very careful. Two women from New York were arrested here in Braintree this week. They were busted right here at this CVS. Stolen gift cards, more than 4,600 of them, filling up plastic bags. This is what Braintree investigators say they found inside a car after employees at this CVS noticed two women stealing gift card after gift card. The suspects, both from New York, were arrested.
This particular scam has been going on for quite a long time. I've never seen it so organized before where you have essentially gangs of people going in and stealing thousands of gift cards at a time.
Here's how the scam often works according to police. Thieves steal gift cards, tamper with the packaging to find the gift card numbers, barcodes, and PINs. They then repackage the gift cards and place them back on the racks and monitor them using a database. When a shopper buys the gift cards, the suspects are alerted and quickly drain the gift cards by making purchases online. The money is gone before the shopper even gets a chance to spend it.
I love gift cards. I think I think they're one of the best gifts to give, but every year there seems to be a different scam that people come up with and a different way to take the money.
Shoppers being warned to make sure they look at gift cards closely to see if they show any sign of being altered.
I'll definitely take a look at the back and make sure that, you know, there's no numbers that have been scratched off or it's been open and somebody put it back, and, and, uh, and definitely be a little more careful.
In the Braintree case, the 4,617 gift cards were for Nike, Apple, Sephora, and Visa.
I usually worry about not having the value on card. So typically I'm the person that keeps the receipt to make sure that, you know, yes, I put $50 on this card and here's the receipt to show it.
If you're buying gift cards, best bet is to purchase the ones that are behind the counter. They're more protected rather than the ones in the middle of the store. We're live in Braintree tonight. Michael Rosenfield, NBC 10 Boston.
