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Gift Card Fraud is the new kid in town. Plenty of towns, in fact. One of the more recent cases was just popped by the Gainesville Police Department (GPD), and resulted in the arrests of individuals suspected of purchasing large quantities of WAL-MART and Sam’s Club gift cards with stolen credit cards. The damages were hardly contained to the Gainesville area, however … the scam extended throughout the state, so the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Gainesville Field Office stepped in to assist. So far six people have been arrested –Irving Escobar, Reinier Camaraza Alvarez, Julio Oscar Alberti, Dianelly Hernandez, Nair Zuleima Alvarez, and Zenia Mercedes Llorente — and other arrests are pending. All suspects reside in the Miami area and face first-degree felony charges of organized scheme to defraud. The losses to retail operations and banks are thus far estimated in the range of $8 million
© Copyright 2007 The John Cooke Fraud Report