GRAFTON — The Village of Grafton Police Department arrested a 52-year-old man from Chicago this week. Investigators said Guangguo Zhu was involved in a large-scale gift card scam.
Officer Patrick Brock with GPD said 1,807 gift cards were recovered in the arrest. Zhu is facing three counts of forgery, three counts of identity theft, and one count of credit card forgery.
"Likely the person responsible that was arrested in this case was a low-level person in an organized crime group,” Brock explained.
Investigators say the man was placing previously stolen gift cards back on the shelf at the Walgreens in Grafton and Walgreens in Cedarburg.
Watch: Grafton Police arrest Chicago man for "gift card draining' scam
"This is a well-known gift card scam that's known as gift card draining,” Brock said.
According to investigators, the criminals steal the gift card information, put a new sticker over the pin, and place the cards back on the shelves. Once the card is activated, they can transfer the money into their bank accounts.
"It's horrible",” Grafton resident, Cindy McGaw said.
McGaw used to work in retail fraud prevention.
"It’s very common. The thieves just, you figure out something to stop it, and they're one step ahead of you,” McGaw explained.
TMJ4’s Megan Lee asked McGaw how shoppers can be safe this season. She said, “I would tell them to really look at the back to see if it's been tampered with, like we talked about save your receipt, and take from the back."
GPD recommends checking the balance of the gift card if you recently bought it at the Walgreens in Grafton.
If you think you’re a victim of the gift card fraud at the Walgreens in Grafton, you should call Grafton Police at 262-375-5320.
Read the full criminal complaint below:
Guangguo Zhu criminal complaint by TMJ4 News on Scribd
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