Three men in North Texas have been caught in a sophisticated gift card cloning operation, potentially defrauding consumers out of $14 million. According to FOX4 News, Kristians Petrovskis, Romunds Cubrevics, and Nurmunds Ulevicus were arrested with over 400 gift cards on hand. Their activities spanned across Texas and Louisiana, targeting about 10 stores each day, seven days a week, over several months.
The Garland Police Department received intelligence from the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center about the illegal activities at a local Walgreens and other stores. Arrested individuals shared that their weeklong, 10-store-a-day scam had been ongoing for seven months. This meticulous heist involved stealing unactivated cards from stores, copying the electronic numbers, and then patiently waiting to drain funds once these cards were rightfully purchased by unsuspecting customers.
The KBTX report states that the fraudsters would put it "either on another card or just store it in a computer system," as described by Lieutenant John Haecker of the Dallas Field Office of TFCIC. The suspects were accused of fraudulent possession of gift cards, a first-degree felony, signaling their alleged connection to a larger crime ring.
Officials warned the public to be vigilant. "Any kind of excess glue or damage to the card, once you get it open, do not call and activate or go online and activate that card. Take it back to the retailer and ask for a refund or a different card," Haecker advised, per KBTX. The lieutenant also shared his personal encounter with a cloned gift card, which had obvious signs of tampering he initially missed. A new law, which began in September, is also expected to fortify the state's statute in prosecuting crimes pertaining to gift card tampering.
All three suspects are currently being held in Dallas County Jail, with immigration holds complicating their situation. As the State of Texas ramps up its defense against these high-tech pickpockets, consumers are reminded to inspect gift cards closely for any signs of tampering and report suspicious findings to retailers immediately.
