SEATTLE, Wa. - A federal grand jury has indicted five people from Washington in connection with a scam involving Target gift cards.
Those facing wire fraud charges are Jeffery Douglas Mann, 29, of Marysville, Washington; Joshua Newman, 33, of Kirkland, Washington; Corey Mosey, 30, of Lynnwood, Washington; Kennady Weston, 22, and Derrick Quintana, 26, both of Everett, Washington. Weston and Quintana are being sought by authorities.
According to the indictment, the five men allegedly stole gift card balances worth more than $785,000 and often sold illegally purchased goods or store gift cards for Bitcoin on an internet marketplace. The crimes allegedly took place between May 2017 and December 2017.
Federal prosecutors say the men used a special algorithm to reverse-engineer and identify unique barcode numbers of thousands of authentic gift cards sold by Target to legitimate customers.
They used Target's automated customer service telephone system to verify balances linked to the various stolen gift card numbers, then loaded active gift card numbers onto a mobile or electronic wallet app on their phones. The co-conspirators allegedly used the app to purchase merchandise and legitimate gift cards at various Target store locations across at least five states (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Colorado).
When the actual cardholders later tried to use their gift cards, they discovered that they had zero balance.
Target released an official statement following news of the indictments.
At Target, we take a comprehensive approach to preventing theft and fraud that includes partnerships with law enforcement, technology enhancements and team member training. Last year, we identified an organized crime ring in the northwest United States that was accessing funds from select Target gift cards. We immediately contacted and began working with federal and local law enforcement agencies to investigate. We also put a number of additional safeguards in place to protect our guests when they made gift card purchases with Target. We appreciate the support from federal and local law enforcement agencies and will continue to provide whatever support is needed for their investigation. If guests have questions, they can contact the Target gift card team at 1-800-544-2943.
In December 2017, Target modified its gift card system in response to the fraud, putting an end to the scheme.
The men each face up to 20 years in prison.
