A man, Yuniel Rodriguez-Leon, has been sentenced for his role in a gift card cloning scheme targeting Walmart stores throughout Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties from October through December 2023.
According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, law enforcement agents identified a group of individuals who were removing gift cards from Walmart, cloning the gift card numbers, and then placing the cards back on shelfs for consumers to purchase. Once consumers loaded the gift cards with funds, these cards were then accessed and the balance used before the consumer was able to access the funds.
Through the assistance of Walmart’s Global Investigations, Rodriguez-Leon was captured on video surveillance in multiple stores placing cloned gift cards on gift card cubicles and removing cards for future cloning. Additional investigation identified multiple transactions where Rodriguez-Leon would use cloned gift cards to make personal purchases.
On August 2, 2024, Rodriguez-Leon pleaded guilty to Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices, a Class 2 felony and Illegally Conducting an Enterprise, a Class 3 felony. On September 17, 2024, Rodriguez-Leon was sentenced to 2.75 years in the Arizona Department of Corrections and a consecutive sentence of 2.5 years’ probation.
Gift card cloning happens when fraudsters take gift cards from stores, copy the magnetic strips, and return the copied gift cards to store shelves. When a consumer buys the card, the fraudster uses the copied magnetic strip to drain the funds leaving the consumer with a worthless card.
Tips to avoid gift card cloning:
Consumers can avoid being defrauded by double-checking to ensure that the number on the back of any gift card matches the number on the receipt. If the numbers do not match, that is a sign the card may have been cloned.
Consumers should also look for signs of tampering, such stickers placed over activation codes or damage to packaging or faint scratches on the card from being swiped through a card reader. For extra precaution, consumers may consider purchasing gift cards stored behind the counter or near cash registers.
