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.
Grafton Police Department “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
Grafton police uncover gift card 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.