SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — More than 6,500 gift cards from various stores were recovered by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office in connection to a scam.
Sacramento County deputies said they arrested a Chinese national as part of their sting operation. They arrested Yubo Tian, who was found with the cards in his car.
The potential loss was anywhere between $40,000 and $3.1 million.
"We observed a suspect who was inside of the Target on Madison Avenue, and he was removing a large number of gift cards from their gift card wall and then replacing them on the gift card wall. We recognized almost immediately that this was consistent with the same activity we saw in December," said Detective Andy Cater, with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
Detective Cater is referring to Operation Bad Elf, where deputies arrested another man after they watched him switch out real gift cards with tampered gift cards.
He said the latest arrest is part of a series of cases across the nation.
"It's organized crime that's predominantly based out of mainland China. These are major groups who have essentially an unlimited budget," Cater said.
The thieves are running tens of thousands of numbers around the clock to check and see if the funds are on the card.
In many cases, the funds on the card are taken within 30 minutes of the card being purchased.
"It's an issue that a lot of people aren't aware of but the amount of money that could potentially be lost is mind-blowing. But again since this is not the first time, which is concerning that we've seen this in Sacramento area, we're not surprised by it," said Detective Ryan Drummond, with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
Detectives said Tian has no connections or family in the United States. They believe he's run this scam all over the West Coast since he arrived in November.
They think he's acting alone, but it's coordinated through Chinese organized crime.
Tian now faces charges related to organized retail theft conspiracy and theft from a common access card. The sheriff's office is asking victims of this crime to report it.
"If it's not brought up, that money is going to be in the hands of the criminals. And nobody know's any better. They're just gonna chalk it up as a mistake," Drummond said.
Detectives said the best way to protect yourself is to purchase gift cards online or from a store where the gift cards are locked up or kept behind the counter.
And if you see anything suspicious at a retailer, you're asked to let a store employee know or call law enforcement.
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