GIFT CARD SCAM: Man arrested for planting tampered cards at Walmart
Gallego is now charged with grand theft
By Austin Schargorodski
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CAPE CORAL, Florida (WFTX) — The Cape Coral Police Department said a Miami Gardens man drove to Cape Coral to run a gift card scam. Police say they caught him outside the Walmart on Del Prado Boulevard Wednesday afternoon.
Cape Coral Police say a Walmart loss prevention officer monitoring surveillance cameras saw 25-year-old Sebastian Garcia Gallego slip tampered gift cards onto a rack, then leave the store.
Police said this is a common scam – a card’s info and PIN are stolen, then the card is placed in a store.
“What happens is people will then buy these gift cards. They’ll take them and when they go to spend the money that money is then given to the scammer instead of being used for the purposes it’s needed to be used for, and the person is out of the money,” said Lisa Greenberg, Cape Coral Police Department public affairs officer.
Police said Walmart managers pulled every gift card from the display and called them. Officers said Gallego placed more than 50 tampered cards in the store and had 200 more in his car. Gallego told police he gets paid to travel city to city to do this.
Gallego is now charged with grand theft, fraud, and property damage. Police said Gallego admitted to hitting other stores too, so they’re working to warn them of the scam.
They also urge customers to always keep their receipt when buying gift cards so they can get their money back if this happens.
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