New Gift Card Scam

Fox News reports "Holiday shoppers warned of disturbing gift card scam likely padding Chinese bank accounts" (h/t Bayou Renaissance Man). This one comes from Sacramento, but according to a law enforcement press release, "[t]heir investigation revealed that the operation spanned across California and several regions nationwide." The scammers steal gift cards (the ones mentioned in this story are Target and Apple gift cards) and removes the "glue" covering the bar code, records the PIN number, and recovers the bar code, and then returns the cards to a store. Apparently, then, when someone purchases the card and loads it with money, the funds are transferred to a (probably) Chinese bank account--the suspect arrested by authorities in Sacramento was a Chinese national. 

    "It’s going to go unreported because are you going to confront somebody who gave you a $0 gift card? No, that's rude. And then you're sitting there fat, dumb and happy, thinking, ‘Oh, I did something nice for somebody,’ not knowing that your money's gone," he said. 

    The office said it has never seen such a crime before, and that Sun is likely a part of a larger gift card operation. The sheriff's office is asking the public to come forward with any tips on the case. 

    Shoppers were warned to keep alert for "any signs of tampering, especially scuff marks or scratches near the bar code," when purchasing gift cards.