LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Police in Louisville said gift card are being tampered with and ending up back on the shelves for sale, a local problem the Better Business Bureau said is part of a national trend.
On Saturday, Oct. 19, St. Matthews Police were sent to the Kroger at 291 N. Hubbards Lane after a loss prevention employee claimed two men placed altered gift cards back on the rack. The four men — Huixing Yu, 42, of New York, Tianlong Chen, 35, of New York; Lin Chaoming, 40, of California, and Zhiqiang Huang, 47, of California — are all facing several felony charges including criminal possession of a forged instrument and engaging in organized crime.
All four men are facing several felony charges for forging gift cards and stealing the money when they are activated. (Photos courtesy of LMDC)
"It's very difficult to tell if these cards have been altered," St. Matthews Police Chief Barry Wilkerson said Monday.
According to police, the four men would open the gift card packaging, write down the numbers and steal the money off the cards when they were activated. St. Matthews Police said they recovered thousands of altered gift cards from various retailers, resulting in millions of dollars stolen. Police believe the four men took the money seconds after a card is purchased.
Whitney Adkins with the Better Business Bureau said, unfortunately, this kind of scam is becoming more common.
"The fact of the matter is, gift cards are like cash," she said. "They're treated like cash. So once that money is gone, it can be very hard to get back."
Shepherdsville resident Mark Witt said he was a victim of a similar crime. About two months ago, he bought a $100 Amazon gift card from Kroger for a friend. Despite the packaging looking unaltered, he soon realized that card was no good.
"It looked totally normal," Witt said. "It didn't look like it had been reopened and sealed or anything."
But when Witt gave the card to his friend, he said she opened it and the activation code was missing.
"It looked like it had been cut off," he said. "The card was actually shorter than normal."
He went back to the St. Matthews Kroger store, where customer service put him in touch with Amazon support staff, who ultimately reimbursed Witt.
"If I didn't have my receipt, I think it would've been a lot harder to process this," he said. "Because I was asked for the receipt number several times during the remediation."
And that's exactly what Adkins said to do if you find yourself in a situation with a gift card that has been tampered with. The BBB suggests customers:
- Act quickly
- Contact the gift card company to let them know what's happened
- Provide proof you purchased the gift card (keep the receipt)
- Call your credit card company to dispute the charge
All four men involved in the St. Matthews gift card ring were in court on Monday. The judge declined to set a bond amount, saying they are a flight risk.
Related Stories:
Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
