On Saturday, August 17, CPD officers were dispatched to a report of a male suspect, later identified as Jian Chen, 45 years old of Rosemead, who was placing tampered gift cards on a store stand for customers to purchase. A second female suspect, Bifeng Xie, 32 years old of Riverside, waited in a car as Chen exchanged the altered gift cards. Chen and Xie had stolen empty gift cards to retrieve card numbers and pin information before replacing them inside stores.
A search of Chen and Xie’s vehicle revealed they had well over 500+ gift cards to various retailers such as Home Depot, Apple, and Amazon throughout their car. Both Chen and Xie were arrested and booked at Santa Clara County jail for obtaining money under false pretenses and conspiracy to commit a crime. During this process it was revealed that Chen also matched a suspect description for the same crime out of Santa Clara.
When a customer unknowingly loads money onto tampered gift cards, the scammers are able to drain the card’s balance before the recipient has a chance to use it. As these gift card scams become increasingly popular, we want to remind our community how they can protect themselves from falling victim to these scams.
🖥️ Buy gift cards online to limit possibility of physical alteration
🔍 Inspect gift cards before purchasing them
🚫 Do not purchase any cards that show signs of tampering
🧾 Keep the receipt with the gift card: in some cases of gift card scams, retailers may be able to offer your money back
💳 Use gift cards as soon as you can: using gift cards timely limit the opportunity for scammers to drain the card's balance
