Inver Grove Heights Police warn of gift card scams

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. – Be careful if you’re buying gift cards soon. Inver Grove Heights police are warning about a new gift card scam — and it’s hard to spot.

“It’s a really, really big deal,” said Matt Mattson, an investigator with the department.

IGH police arrested two people on Friday after they were caught putting gift cards on the shelves of a Cub Foods store. They were charged with crimes that could result in more than a year in prison or thousands of dollars in fines.

These gift cards were scams designed to steal money once activated.

“This is relatively new, and especially on this scale it is new,” Mattson said. “It’s not something we’re particularly familiar with. We’ve seen it maybe once or twice, but there’s nothing like it on this scale.”

These two people were caught with almost £100 in gift cards. Mattson estimates there were about 2,000 cards in one box.

“That’s hundreds of thousands of police reports that are being avoided here,” he said. “And hundreds if not thousands of victims who will not be victims.”

Here’s how it works: Thieves get hold of these cards in bulk. After carefully removing the card from the packaging, they remove the scratch part on the card, copy the number underneath, and then scratch off some numbers to make the card stop working.

“You take a new sticker and stick it together with this one. The only way to know something is wrong is to run your finger over it. There is a bit of sand underneath that is not from the factory. and this one is completely smooth,” Mattson said, showing us some of the affected cards.

With graduation season in full swing, this is a big problem. According to the Better Business Bureau, such scams are becoming more common, especially this time of year.

They recommend purchasing directly from a retailer rather than a gift card kiosk to ensure the card is secure. They also recommend completely checking the packaging on a card.

Mattson says if you see a card that looks tampered with, tell the store.

“If you have $200 set aside as a gift for someone and you lose that $200, that’s a huge blow to a person’s family or loved one,” he said. “It’s a tragedy every time it happens.”

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