The NBC 5 Responds team continues to receive messages from North Texans reporting disappearing gift card balances.
Tara from Fort Worth recently shared photos of a gift card she claimed to have activated for $500. Before she could use the card, she says the balance was zero. Tara kept the card activation receipt and was eventually able to get her money back from the store.
Tara is not alone. NBC and Telemundo Responds teams have heard from dozens of consumers who have received or given away gift cards with empty balances. Read on to learn what police want consumers to know.
“HAS OPENED OUR EYES”
When Burleson Police released this photo and announced that they had seized thousands of “tampered” gift cards, commenters chimed in to share their own experiences of finding a zero balance on a gift card.
“Our social media has opened our eyes to how often this happens,” said Collin Gregory of the Burleson Police Department.
The Burlenson Police Department’s case began on June 27, when license plate readers alerted police to a license plate pointing to the Burleson entrance.
“We actually received a hit showing that a license plate was driving through our city that was involved in a nationwide gift card tampering ring,” said Sergeant Brandon Glass of the Burleson Police Department.
The officers didn’t have to go far. In the parking lot of a shopping center across from BPD headquarters, police observed two men leaving a Target store. When officers stopped the car, they found nearly three thousand gift cards.
“There was no explanation as to why they had the gift cards,” said Sergeant Glass.
According to Sergeant Glass, surveillance video from the store showed the men taking new cards from the displays and putting other cards back.
“We could actually see them hanging out in the store near the gift card departments and taking gift cards off the shelf. Then they would replace them with other gift cards that they took for themselves,” Glass said.
In a hotel room in Carrollton, investigators said they seized another 1,800 gift cards in two boxes that had been delivered to the hotel from California.
“That tells us they’re working with someone. We don’t have all the information on that, and it’s still under investigation, but it suggests that it’s not just happening here in this region,” Sergeant Glass said. “It’s happening all over the country.”
Arrests for gift cards
Between news reports and police reports, our NBC Responds teams have found at least two dozen other recent cases across the country mentioning individuals arrested with large numbers of gift cards believed to have been compromised, including these Arrested in December in Sacramento, California.
“He fell to the ground and he had gift cards in his hand, like a piñata, gift cards were just flying out of his clothes,” Detective Andy Cater of the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office told our colleagues at NBC Bay Area.
In April, Plano police announced they had seized more than 4,100 “tampered” gift cards.
“This is not an isolated incident, it’s not just a Plano situation, it’s a worldwide situation,” said Plano Police Detective Jerry Minton.
WHAT IS A GIFT CARD LOST?
This is how the police describe the misuse of gift cards.
Generally, people take new gift cards off the shelf, unseal the gift card packaging in another location, and copy the gift card numbers and security codes.
They replace seals and scratch-off stickers, then return to a store to put compromised gift cards back on the shelf. When a consumer purchases a compromised card and loads money onto it, fraudsters monitoring compromised gift cards redeem the funds online before the consumer can do so.
“Often the cards have been tampered with and you don’t realize it until you try to use them,” said Collin Gregory.
To protect themselves when shopping, BPD says consumers should check the gift card packaging.
“There may be some waves in there because they often use a heat source to loosen the glue and then glue it back on,” Gregory said.
A tampered package may have small stains or defects.
“Some of the cards we examined had been tampered with, there was clear evidence of adhesive residue of some kind,” said Sergeant Glass.
BPD suggests consumers purchase e-gift cards online directly from the merchant or purchase gift cards in stores where they will be stored in a locked drawer or case.
“We’re not saying don’t buy gift cards,” Gregory said. “We’re saying when you buy something, don’t just grab something off the shelf, throw it under the scanner, pay for it and walk away without doing your due diligence.”
When purchasing or loading funds onto a gift card, keep the activation receipt. If the consumer discovers the gift card is worthless, the receipt may be the only way to fight back.
Two suspects, identified by Burleson police as Shiwei Zhuo and Shichang Lin, were arrested in the Burleson case and face theft and fraud charges. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the men are Chinese nationals who had previous encounters with border patrol in Southern California in 2023.
BPD said there are no known connections between the suspects in their case and two people Plano police arrested in April. In the Plano case, online Collin County court records show Xiaohong Zhang and Xiongling Chen pleaded guilty to unlawful use of crime instruments. Both individuals will receive three years of probation and community service.
We received no response when we contacted Target about the Burleson case.
In a previous NBC 5 Responds report on gift card voiding, Target told us, among other things, that gift card tampering is an industry-wide problem. The company also said it is actively addressing the issue with a multi-layered approach.
The Federal Trade Commission provides information on how to avoid and report gift card fraud here. The FTC warns consumers to never purchase a gift card as a form of payment. Thieves may contact you and try to trick you into purchasing gift cards and providing the card numbers and security codes.
If you receive a gift card and want to check his balance, says the BBB, be skeptical of websites that offer to check his balance. Some sites ask for your card ID number and PIN or security code, and Fraudsters will use this information to take the money from your card. Instead, visit the retailer’s website for balance information or call the gift card company listed on the back of the physical card.
NBC 5 Responds is committed to investigating your concerns and getting your money back. Our goal is to provide you with answers and, when possible, solutions and resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our customer complaint form.
