A man has been arrested for an alleged gift card scheme involving several Giant grocery stores in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Back in March, the Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department investigated several incidents of "gift card draining” that were occurring at the Giant Food Store locations in Westtown Township and East Goshen Township.
Police said with this type of scam, suspects typically take physical gift cards off stores seleves and tamper with them.
Scammers first scratch off the protective covering to reveal the card's code. Once they have it, police said they will place the protective covering back and return it to the shelf.
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Once an unsuspecting customer purchases the tampered card and loads funds onto it, scammers are able to use the recorded code to drain the funds before the legitimate owner can use them.
As a result of an investigation, police said, Dong Shao from Flushing, New York, was identified as the suspect and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Shao was later arrested in New York and extradited back to Pennsylvania, according to police.
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