3 accused in $14 million 'gift card cloning' scam in North Texas

3 accused in $14 million 'gift card cloning' scam

All three suspects have immigration holds and are being held in Dallas County Jail. State officials estimate $14 million in fraud. 

GARLAND, Texas - All three suspects have immigration holds and are being held in Dallas County Jail. State officials estimate $14 million in fraud. 

Garland gift card arrests

The Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center says Kristians Petrovskis, Romunds Cubrevics and Nurmunds Ulevicus are suspected of gift card cloning and possessed more than 400 gift cards when arrested.

The Garland Police Department was tipped off by TFCIC that Petrovskis was stealing cards from a Walgreens off Broadway Boulevard on Dec. 15, and other stores in the area. 

Officers found "a shopping bag of gift cards in the trunk." The estimated potential loss was more than $26,000, a fraction of the $14 million value state officials believe this trio is responsible for scamming. 

The suspects reportedly told investigators that on average they steal from 10 stores per day, seven days per week, and have been doing so for seven months.

What is gift card cloning?

Dig deeper:

Thieves take unactivated gift cards from storesa and copy the electronic number off the gift card.

They later re-seal and return the cards to stores, then lie in wait, checking the card’s activity. 

Once purchased by an innocent victim, criminals drain the card's funds.

What you can do:

Be sure to watch out for potential gift card cloning. Officials say excess glue or damage to packaging could indicate a card has been tampered with.