GRAFTON — The Grafton Village Police Department arrested a 52-year-old Chicago man this week. Investigators said Guangguo Zhu was involved in a large-scale gift card scam.

Officer Patrick Brock with the GPD said 1,807 gift cards were recovered during the arrest. Zhu faces three counts of forgery, three counts of identity theft and one count of credit card forgery.

Grafton Police Department

“It is likely that the responsible person who was arrested in this case was a low-level person within an organized crime group,” Brock said.

Investigators say the man was placing previously stolen gift cards back on the shelves at the Walgreens in Grafton and the Walgreens in Cedarburg.

Watch: Grafton police arrest Chicago man for ‘gift card drain’ scam

Grafton Police Uncover Gift Card Scam

“This is a well-known gift card scam known as the gift card drain,” Brock said.

According to investigators, the criminals steal the gift card information, put a new sticker on the pin and place the cards back on the shelves. Once the card is activated, they can transfer the money to their bank accounts.

“It’s horrible,” said Grafton resident Cindy McGaw.

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McGaw worked in the field of retail fraud prevention.

“It’s very common. Thieves just find something to stop it, and they’re one step ahead of you,” McGaw said.

TMJ4’s Megan Lee asked McGaw how shoppers can be safe this season. She said: “I would tell them to really look at the back to see if it has been tampered with, like we talked about, keep your receipt and take it from the back. »

GPD recommends checking the gift card balance if you recently purchased it at the Walgreens in Grafton.

If you think you are a victim of gift card fraud at Walgreens in Grafton, you should call Grafton Police at 262-375-5320.

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