Plano police have made significant progress in stopping a scheme to drain gift cards, confiscating over 4,100 unsealed gift cards from stores this month.
A media advisory from the Plano Police Department (PPD) announced on Wednesday revealed that a collaborative effort between its Forgery Unit, the U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resulted in the large seizure and the arrest of two suspects in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
PPD confiscated numerous gift cards from companies like Apple, Foot Locker, Amazon, and Sephora.
Scammers altered the cards to steal from consumers, taking more than $649,000. They accomplished this by opening, stealing, and resealing the cards, leaving unsuspecting buyers with drained balances.
As previously covered in The Dallas Express, gift card scams have significantly increased over the last year, with a 50% rise reported by the Better Business Bureau between 2022 and 2023. Consumers who fall victim to these scams often struggle to recover their lost money.
Assisted by local retailers such as Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS, investigators allegedly caught 42-year-old Xiaohong Zhang and 33-year-old Xiongling Chen tampering with gift cards and arrested them for unlawful use of a criminal instrument. charges of unlawful use of a criminal instrument.
Zhang remained in custody as of the publication date and was given a bond of $50,000. There is no current information available on her alleged conspirator, Chen. Both suspects given in California, according to Fox 4 KDFW. reside PPD advised shoppers to be cautious when buying gift cards and report any
according to the City of Plano. The city also advised consumers to carefully check gift cards for signs of tampering before purchasing and keep receipts as proof of purchase. suspicious activity to the authorities,
Anyone with information about this or other gift card scams can call the tip line at 972-941-5555.
In Dallas, property crime has been the most common criminal offense, with 18,024 reports logged as of April 17, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard. A total of 641 of these crimes have been fraud-related. Council districts 6, 2, and 14 have been the hottest spots for such offenses, logging 85, 77, and 60 reports, respectively, in 2024.
The Dallas Police Department has been critically understaffed in recent years, which has hindered its crime-fighting efforts. Currently, the department has around 3,000 officers, but a City report called for closer to 4,000 officers to ensure public safety.
Meanwhile, the Dallas City Council allocated allocated just $654 million to DPD this fiscal year, much lower less funding compared to police departments in other high-crime areas, such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
