Three males arrested in $14 million reward card scheme the place they stole from 10 shops a day for months, officers say | EUROtoday

Three males have been arrested in a $14 million reward card scheme the place they stole from 10 shops a day for months, based on officers.

Kristians Petrovskis, Romunds Cubrevics and Nurmunds Ulevicus have been charged with fraudulent possession of reward playing cards after Texas enacted a regulation to crack down on reward card tampering, which went into impact in September.

The Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center introduced the main bust Monday, saying the three males suspected of reward card cloning had greater than 400 reward playing cards of their possession once they have been arrested.

The suspects reportedly informed investigators they normally stole reward playing cards from 10 shops a day, seven days every week, since May to hold out their alleged scheme.

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It’s not instantly clear whether or not the three suspects have authorized illustration.

Holiday consumers ought to concentrate on reward card cloning when shopping for presents for family members.

The scheme entails a thief stealing un-activated reward playing cards, opening the packaging, copying the digital quantity off the reward card earlier than re-sealing the packaging after which returning the reward card on the retailer the place it was stolen. After an unsuspecting shopper buys the reward card and hundreds cash onto it, the scammer steals the funds earlier than the reward card can be utilized.

Gift card scams have turn into more and more common lately. These schemes accounted for $217 million of the $10 billion in fraud losses in 2023, information web site Stateline reported, citing information from the Federal Trade Commission.

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Officials warn consumers to take a detailed take a look at a present card’s packaging earlier than shopping for it to verify the cardboard wasn’t tampered with.

Shoppers also needs to purchase reward playing cards with a bank card as they will dispute the cost and should get their a reimbursement, based on an article from the FTC.

It can be essential to maintain copies of the reward card and receipt from the shop the place it was bought, so in the event you do get a compromised reward card, you possibly can report the fraud to the reward card firm and the FTC.