A syndicate is draining billions from gift cards; a new federal operation aims to stop the scam
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- čas přidán 21. 05. 2024
- There’s a major new tactic to take down an international fraud that quietly drains gift cards by the thousands, here in the Bay Area and beyond. Consumer investigator Chris Chmura reports.
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Keep the gift cards behind the counter. Problem solved.
way too many cards. Supermarket has two displays full on 3 sides each.
@@HeavensProtocol could be an insider employee too
@@HeavensProtocol I think we should go further and END ALL CAPITALISM
@@RudieObiasgift cards have no practical purpose
@@moogsthey do for me. i get to shop at a store i wanted to shop at anyways, and don’t have to spend my own money 😂
So the companies knew this was going on..but didn’t care cause they’re still getting paid.
Companies are too big to care. Like you said, companies did not lose anything.
This country is run by them.
Time to start class action lawsuit visa not keeping us safe
the uhmerican way.
s'why this country will go thru hell before we totally collapse.
we gave the financial world control of our lives by sheepishly allowing them to corrupt our weak politicians.
Companies still get the money either way. No incentive to add security
Gift cards should only be available from the cashier directly. Blank cards should be locked up.
Thaty won't happen because it seriously reduces impulse purchases. that is why they are always on endcaps.
That’s how this is now done in South Africa. But a new kind of scam evolved, phishing through gift cards.
Do not buy them
Make a gift card vending machine. It could have a touch screen where people can choose what gift card they want and how much it’s worth. Then to receive the card they would need to pay for it first. The card would be then be dispensed from machine.
And when the card doesn't eject, kick the machine. Maybe you'll get two cards out.
Actually a pretty good idea.
Good idea 👍
Could also be something as simple as all the card info gets printed on the card as soon as one is ordered, so no one with a security key (and yeah they are out there in the wild) can't just pop the machine open and take a bunch of cards and basically repeat the same scam.
That’s a great idea.
One day I was at Costco Warehouse and bought four $25 Coldstone giftcards for $69. A few mins later I dropped by a nearby Coldstone creamery shop and attempted to buy a cake with the giftcards, and the cashier told me that those cards could not be used because they were deactivated. I went back to Costco and the store manager looked at me like I am a thief. In the end, the store manager agreed to give me a full refund.
You had your receipt they have you on camera. Why would they "look at you like a thief"?
@@michaelanthony508 I don't know. The way the store manager looked at me like I redeemed the value from the gift cards and then return them for money back.
@@michaelanthony508something similar happen to me in January went to go get myself a visa birthday gift card for myself and discovered when I got home discovered the pin in the back was scratched off so everything looked normal even the way they repackaged the card in so took it back to reloads market and they told nothing they could do since I paid the gift card in cash but they told me if I had paid in with a debit card then I could've got refunded.
The whole point of me using a gift card is because I have no debit card due to the fact I am still rebuilding my life back after getting sober in mid 2017 it's been quite the journey but I still don't fully trust myself with a debit card especially if I am in a manic episode so I trust myself enough with gift cards where I allow myself a certain budget but nope these scammer clowns are making life difficult for myself and many others unfortunately..
Just happened to me today with a Dunkin Donuts card my sister gave me as a gift. Not activated the barrista told me. She told me it was possibly fraud. 😒
I worked for a company within target, I saw this first hand. And guess what? Everytime I reported it, target didn't care because they were receiving money. I even have photos of the perpetrators. Hey reporters! If you want some evidence, hit me up. I have ALL TYPES of info and video.
Report it to homeland security
Post it on your channel
Try emailing the evidence to their website. They might even pay you to use your footage
If it doesn't concern u...then u should mind ur own business.....ur snitching for nothing..like u said..target don't care so y should u???u trying to get a raise??
Found the scammer ....quantruong
Gift cards are a scam regardless, sometimes people lose them or don’t use them and the money gets lost. It’s big business for the companies issuing the gift cards.
Golden coral gift card saves tou 20%
exactly.
Buying a gift card is equivalent to making money less useful.
Yep. I have misplaced them. I don’t even like receiving them as gifts because they stress me out becasue now i gotta spend it and I’m afraid of losing it or just forgetting about it as it sits in a desk drawer
@@nofurtherwest3474
Now I have to buy this item at this particular store, despite the discount at the other store.
Also after buying it you are left with a gift card balance of $0.51 cents or need to pay extra money to buy a small item, that you don’t need.
When it's $1 or less, most people just throw them away or forget about them. Meanwhile in the fine print, the company siezes the remaining, dormant balances after a certain amount of time. It's 100% profit for them..
An online search revealed that Starbucks has the biggest random balances. Over MILLIONS of gift cards with a balance of 0.01 to 0.95 cents that amounts to MILLIONS of dollars that Starbucks will seize in the coming years. Again 100% profit without any work..
This need to be on ALL MAJOR NEWS CHANNELS so people are aware.
Toothpaste, shampoo, condoms are locked up, but gift cards are out in the open. Yeah, that makes total sense.😂😂😂
Do the stores lose money from these scams or just those who buy them? Because the stuff they do lock up, they lose money when that is taken.
@user-pp4wb6ub2o Actually, the stores don't lose money on anything. If things are stolen, they will write those off and also increase prices to the consumers. It's always the consumers that get screwed.
none of these should be locked up in the first place. there's a reason why they're locked up, and that's because of who you people vote for.
@@victortoombs4754 We sure do, lol!
@victortoombs4754 You think they don't charge the most they can regardless of how much or how little is stolen????
“I have a lot of Jamba Juice cards”
“BETTER GET SLURPIN’”
Lmao
😂😂
If stores cared they’d lock up the cards
Funny that they won’t say the people are Chinese foreign nationals
#Bigfacts!!!!!
You know what is better than a gift card? CASH.
Ok boomer
Pre-paid cards for online use instead of credit cards, yes there are some online places that won't take them. Just get a universal pre-paid card and it can be used almost anyplace. It is way past time for doing something. Lock the darn things up, a little inconvenience to get them would save lots of money, especially at Christmas. Use cash for everything else, especially for those who can't pay off their credit cards each month. It will save $ as interest really adds up, and may keep a check on impulse spending. Just make sure the pre - paid card is not one that you pay an upfront fee when buying ( that is a given) and then has a per purchase fee also. So why is it that the companies/ stores, etc., are unable to take care of stuff but regular people like us can come up with solutions for so many things. If one solution isn't great move onto another until the right one fits..
to be fair, @justayoutuber1906 is right @@SanseriIIDX, but i concur with you that the caps lock is excessive.
Monorail, Monorail, Monorail
You’ll get mugged for carrying cashzzzz
Give cash, better than any gift card.
How many years ago are we talking? This has been around for several years.
He just said a week ago..maybe watch the video before commenting
i've heard of this a decade ago
well they started operation red hook. 2:47 just recently . So if your comment is true, they’re definitely late on it …
@@Maryjanelovesgreen WTF, NO, this came out over a year ago. this is just an update.
My brother worked out at Target in Long Island 2 years ago and would tell me how this group of Asian guys would come in with gift cards weekly and that something weird was going on.
If stores lock up some items in glass enclosures, why can't they do the same with the giftcards?!
That’s the world you want to live in?
@@mike7984 it's already the world we live in now bc of these thieves or are you one of them?!!
@@travelnomad2128 yeah ima steal your daughter
Because the stores don’t lose money in gift card scams
bro said "get slurpin" 💀💀
😏😏
"get to slurpin" is crazy
If only we had invented a piece of paper that had value anywhere, and could easily be given to one another - Oh, wait...
Seriously, I don't know why giving cash as a gift (in the US) is somehow seen as tacky, but a gift card is somehow ok
Counterfeit cash
Toilet paper?
lol but you can’t buy stuff from Amazon directly with cash,..
At the store where I work, this has been going on for years. We keep the new cards locked up. Then we go get the card the customers ask for and activate them at the register.
They don’t even tell you what to look for
Ying yang yong....
HE IS WHAT IS WRONG...
SCAMMERS SUCKKKK
Yup this gift card scam happened to me on more than one occasion. Frustrating as you receive or give a gift that’s essential empty.
Congrats for catching these guys!
getting tired of all these criminals that make security tighter which inconvenience honest folks
Don’t buy gift cards problem solved. Buying gift cards is a waste of money
Gift cards can actually save you money but only IF you intend on using them and buying them when there's a sale. If you spend enough on the Google Play store or Dominos etc, it's worth it.
Just give cash
But sometimes you get a pretty good discount when buying gift cards, like you buy $100 gift cards at Costco for $70.
You are right. It happened to me (as a gift to my friend). Now I am giving cash as a gift, especially for the kids.
For broke bums like the ones that beg on CZcams for handouts yes
Our security is so far behind criminals
Until scammers go after private equity no serious efforts will be made to protect private citizens.
Wait until you hear about crypto currency.
Actually it’s a double scam… the “legitimate” scam and the illegal scam….
Just with them! Problem solved…
“Get slurping” 4:13 😂
"DO NOT REDEEM IT"' when I hear gift cards immediately.
😂😂😂
*DO NOT REDEEM DA CARD. DO NOT REDEEM DA CARD!!*
I must be an idiot. I was over 3 mins in until I realized Ning Ning Son was not Ning Ning’s kid and stopped wondering who Ning Ning was.
Thats wild he said get slurping...🤣😅
how about the over $19bn of edd fraud during cofefe
That female DA was filmed months ago. I remember her coat with white stuff all over it.
Gift cards, why aren’t stores putting gift cards behind glass like a box of Q-tips. I stopped using gift cards.
The stores targeted are similar, the cards targeted are similar, and the method is similar. The detective is NOT going to tell the public what stores and cards are targeted. Thanks for nothing Det. Cater.
I know Home Depot cards have been targeted.
Gift cards we got from work has NO MONEY
The Gift Card people at Target have known about these crooks for years! The drug pimp's give them a list of what to buy for re-sale.
I have watched these rip-offs at Target come in, buy a suit case, fill it up with gift card purchases over and over by the same people!
The clerk's only concern is that the cards work! They calmly walk out to their Pimp's Escalade & throw it in the back seat.
This happens all day long for the past 6 years at the Curtner Ave. Target store in San Jose, CA.
The "chinese"
Security alarm: ning ning ning ning, son 😂😂😂😂
In case people are curious to what the scam is, one person buys a gift card legitimately and then prints thousands of barcodes. When they steal them, they place the printed barcode on the stolen cards then put them back on the shelf. So when someone buys the stolen one, the money goes to the one that the scammer bought legitimately. How do I know this? Because it has been going on for 15 years since I worked at Ralph’s in San Diego.
PArt of the plan. They won't all financial transactions done on cell phones.
In Ghana and Nigeria nobody trusts the banks and telcos are the best way to save send and buy items. 0% on transactions and higher interest rates on savings than banks. They make money from selling Data and phone calls. When 40+% of the country are illiterate and 80% of the country use mobile and smart phones they can't lose.
You are wise.
I’m sick and tired of all these scammers!!
This tampering with the gift cards has been happening from quite some time, and big box stores have still not figured out how to safeguard their own customers from this theft?
Obviously they don’t care
How does the scam work? No information is provided here.
Happening for years and they update their tactics based on the response.
If anyone asks you to pay in gift cards its a scam but if you do buy gift cards you're getting scammed already. What a world
Its the CCP
Corporate media gives a tin bit of information to protect the criminals.
i bought an Amazon gift card for myself and added $200 then when i opened the package the grey seal was missing and the code exposed and two letters scratched off i thought i wasnt going to be able to use it so i had to guess the missing letters i was able to guess the M from the remaining bottom part but i went through every Letter to guess the next one and i beat the scammer i was able to use it 😬 this happened at cvs
They said that the tampering of these cards wasn't detectable.
That actually happened to me
Seems to be a very obvious common connection when looking at the mugshots
R they even here legally?
They need to keep them behind the counter. Unsuspecting people get scammed from people from Nigeria from gift cards, also
CCP
Surprised I had to scroll this far to find someone mention it. The ones they've caught have all been Chinese. All using the same method, stores, and structure. It could be a well organized gang, but this seems more like a nation-state backed operation. There are tons of Chinese growing cannabis illegally in several different states too. F the CCP
Wow scamming and the killings are so out of hand now a lot of people are mentally sick
Put them in a vending machines with cameras. Scrap all cards by a certain date, then start a reprint to flush out old cards and criminal activity.
Can someone explain to me how this scam/fraud works? They steal blank cards, somehow add money on to them and sell them?
They take the cards out of the store and get the numbers. THEN they put them back on the store shelf / wait for someone to put money on it THEN THEY TAKE THE MONEy.
GET SLURPIN!
The money is transferred the second you load it. Don’t buy gift cards, just give cash in person.
Freudian slip...Yes, lock him up!
Get 'ta slurpin'. Lmao
Stores need to put the cards behind a counter and have to have a staff get them
4:12 get slurpin?! 😂🤣
😂😂😂
4:14. 😂.
More than 50% of normal legal gift cards ARE NEVER USED ! even reimbursement cards are never used. It is more 25% being used.
I hate these “unique “ scams, literally if someone is doing their shopping or just out and about… people ALWAYS ASSUME THE WORST.
Get slurping…
Wake up America
😂 they're high on pot. American junkies will never wake up.
Ming Ling's son? Call Flex Your Rights! We found Ming Ling!🤔🤔🤔🤔
simple! stop buying gift cards
“Get slupinnn” 😂
Gift cards need to be locked in a cabinet so that way people can be protected from theft and balance issues.
God forbid people STOP BUYING GIFT CARDS!!
4:13 my mans really got that one off on national television. Best newscaster ever! 💀 😂
It is indeed not a PLAN-O situation 😂
If you're gonna gift money, just gift cash or check. Cash is best, then the govt. doesn't even need to know.
Just by reading the headlines I knew what type of person would be arrested lol!
Someone mentioned that gift card vending machines is a good idea.
I always say “Don’t give gift cards, just give cash!” Don’t see the point in being tied to one store.
A shout-out should be made to ALL customers to simply boycott gift cards entirely. When the companies and stores see their sales plumet maybe they will take these frauds seriously.
Don't buy gift cards. Buy gifts!
Who else died at the "get slurpin'" at the end
Every time you buy them from Walgreens, they never work and they don’t want to return your money either
gift cards used to not have the pin number hidden on the back, so walk up, copy the card and pin number, and then just try to use it periodically in the future lol
Months ago there was a weird report of one person doing this in my small town in Mexico.
It was such a weird occurance, specially because we are not that technologically advanced and crime is almost non existent here. The guy locked the small convenience store and forced the clerk to activate the cards or something. When he was done he flee away. He did that in 2 stores and then he was never seen again. I wonder if he had some relation with these robberies in the USA, my town is not that far from the border.
Just don’t buy gift cards. Problem solved
I wonder if he’s going to show up in court and I also wonder if all the people arrested are Chinese.
Thank you‼️ When I watched at first, I thought, "oh, California 🤷🏽♀️"
And then you mentioned Plano, Tx.
Thanks for the warning and how to protect ourselves. Probably buying them from a bank is safe, too.?
No more off the rack cards‼️
Tom Green as Det. Andy Cater
It seems like NBC Bay is giving themselves credits.
Hopefully the DA will send a message by giving double digit years in prison.
If they made all the gift cards digital how would they actually be able to steal the money off the gift cards because don't they actually have to do that in the store so if you digitally get a gift card nobody can steal it from you
It’s all a lie to make all China people look bad enough to go to war!
It’s so disgusting, at the end of March I bought an ITunes card at Walmart, went home opened it up and 2 numbers were scratched off?.
Walmart said I have to contact Apple, once the gift card leaves the store it’s out of their hands ??
I’m glad they found their better life
Walgreens had this problem....probably still does.
This sure is a big problem. I’ve had a couple of customers in the store that I work for come in and actually say that PayPal told him to come and buy two gift cards.
No stopping me!!!!
What a wonderful idea.
I have completely given up on gift cards.....almost every one I have purchased was already drained.....Los Angeles.
Ning Ning tried to get that bling bling
gift cards are the worst thing you can give or buy. WHY? just give cash or a gift. STOP BUYING THEM.
Radical leftist liberal bureaucrats make my hood in international Blvd east Oakland look like little Haiti 🇭🇹, they will never ever apologize
Sounds like something my neighbor would do for drugs