According to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office, Arizona’s Attorney General Kris Mayes has sentenced Yuniel Rodriguez-Leon for his role in a multi-county gift card cloning scheme that mostly targeted Walmart shoppers.
This is part of an effort to stop what is seen as a sophisticated form of theft.
Given a sentence of 2.75 years in jail and then 2.5 years of probation Rodriguez-Leon’s guilty plea ends a scheme that involved Walmart customers in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties.
Who were tricked into thinking they were buying valuable gift cards but were actually given worthless pieces of plastic instead.
Police caught Rodriguez-Leon cloning gift card numbers at different stores and then using them for his own gain through video surveillance and further investigation.
Walmart’s Global Investigations and local police worked together on this case, but what really made it interesting was the complicated way the theft was done: gift cards
Were stolen from stores, their numbers were copied, and they were carefully put back on shelves so that unaware customers could buy them and fill them with cash. The investigation announcement from last December went into more detail about this process.
That is what Mayes said: “I am proud of the work of the agents and prosecutors in my office for their efforts to fight the retail theft that happened in this gift card cloning scam.”
Assistant Attorney General Matthew McCray led the prosecution of the case. It is a harsh reminder of how fraud can be found in everyday transactions.
If you think someone is committing fraud, you can call the Attorney General’s Office at (602) 542-8888 or file a complaint online.