VERONA, Pa. — Verona police are dealing with what is believed to be a widespread scam across Western Pennsylvania. They told Channel 11 scammers are tampering with Giant Eagle gift cards, leaving unsuspecting shoppers with zero balances on some of those cards.
On Tuesday, police were called to the Giant Eagle in Verona, where they said 15 gift cards were purchased and loaded with several thousand dollars but somehow ended up with no money on them.
Police believe scammers are taking gift cards from Giant Eagle store racks, removing the silver pin covers to get serial numbers, then replacing that sticky silver covering, repackaging the gift cards and taking them back to the store. Unsuspecting shoppers can then buy them and have them activated, but scammers take the funds, leaving the customer who purchased them with nothing.
“The general manager from Giant Eagle has some of the original packaging. It looks to be near perfect,” said Chief Thomas Dessell of the Verona Police Department.
But police said with other gift cards, you might be able to tell they’ve been tampered with. They stress always checking the pin cover and look for scratches, peeling, tears, or sticky residue on packaging.
“I know people like to keep them in the original packaging and giving them as Christmas gifts. I would recommend taking them out of the packaging to ensure that the pin cover is still there and the card has not been tampered with,” Dessell said.
“It’s very frightening because I was going to go there today after work,” said Ramona Cosentino of Pitcairn. “It’s very unnerving that people just don’t care about another human being.”
Verona police shared a picture on social media, asking the public to help them identify the person in connection with this investigation. If you can help, give them a call.
Giant Eagle says they’re working to mitigate potentially fraudulent activity across Western Pennsylvania. Full statement:
“At Giant Eagle, we go to great lengths to mitigate potentially fraudulent activity in an effort create a safe shopping experience for our customers. We have a variety of security measures in place in all Giant Eagle and Market District locations, and we work closely with local and state authorities to help facilitate their investigations.
Giant Eagle will always do right by our customers. While fraudulent activity related to third-party gift cards is a national issue for all retailers, we have taken numerous steps to ensure customers can be confident in the gift card purchases they make at Giant Eagle. Should a Giant Eagle customer purchase a gift card that has been tampered with, we will promptly reimburse their purchase.
In many cases, gift card tampering can be difficult to detect, but we encourage consumers to look for anything unusual as they shop for gift cards this holiday season. If anything about a gift card or its packaging appears unusual, customers are encouraged to notify a Giant Eagle Team Member immediately for assistance.”
Below are some indicators that a gift card may have been tampered with.
- Visible tears or paper fibers around the perimeter of the secure pack
- Tears or exposed nicks along the pull tab of the gift card packaging – a slight bend back and forth can show if the pull tab has been tampered with in any way.
- The gift card PIN has missing pieces, is fully missing, and/or is not completely smooth or flat.
- If the gift card packaging in any way deviates from the retailer’s standard gift card packaging – customers can compare to other gift cards on the rack or on different displays.
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