Two Southern California residents accused of running a fraud involving manipulated retail gift cards were detained in Santa Clara County last weekend, authorities said Wednesday.
Campbell police said in a community notice that officers responded to a report on August 17 of a man placing tampered gift cards on a business stand for people to buy. Jian Chen, 45, of Rosemead, Los Angeles County, has been identified.
According to investigators, a woman waited in the car while Chen exchanged the altered gift cards. She was identified as Bifen Xie, 32, from Riverside, Riverside County.
According to police, Chen and Xie stole empty gift cards to collect the card numbers and pin information before replacing them inside establishments. According to authorities, a search of their vehicle turned up over 500 gift cards to companies such as Home Depot, Apple, and Amazon.
When money is loaded onto a tampered gift card, criminals might deplete the card’s balance before the receiver can use it. The cops said.
Chen and Xie were detained and placed in the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose on allegations of collecting money under false pretenses and conspiracy. According to police, Chen matched a suspect description for the same crime in Santa Clara during the investigation.
In May, a regional retail theft task force arrested two suspected Chinese nationals in Ventura County for allegedly running a similar gift card fraud.
Campbell police issued the following recommendations to help individuals avoid committing these frauds.
- Purchase gift cards online to reduce the likelihood of physical modification.
- Inspect gift cards before purchasing them.
- Avoid purchasing any cards that exhibit symptoms of manipulation.
- Keep the receipt with the gift card: in some cases of gift card fraud, stores may be able to offer your money back.
- Use gift cards as quickly as possible to reduce the possibility of scammers draining the card’s balance.