SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) — Three New York men accused of tampering with gift cards at stores across Rhode Island appeared in court Tuesday morning.
Quanbin Huang, 45, and Zhixiong Lu, 46, were arrested in February after South Kingstown police responded to reports of a man adding gift cards to a display at a CVS Pharmacy on Main Street.
When an employee confronted him, the man left the store and got into a car, which police later stopped. According to police, officers discovered three boxes containing 1,848 altered gift cards, along with 935 tampered gift cards inside the pharmacy.
In March, Narragansett police arrested Zhongzhen Lin, 36, at a Walgreens on Woodruff Avenue for similar offenses. A search of his vehicle turned up 4,387 allegedly tampered gift cards.
All three men are charged with forgery, counterfeiting, and conspiracy. Police said they’re suspected of being part of a retail theft ring that engages in “gift card draining.”
The scam works in one of two ways: either a fraudulent barcode is placed on an unsold gift card, or information from a legitimate card is stolen and returned to the store. The gift card is then drained after being activated during a purchase.