California Men Accused Of Gift Card Tampering In Plumstead: Police

PLUMSTEAD TOWNSHIP, PA — Two California men face multiple felony theft charges in Plumstead Township for gift card tampering.

Police said Min He and Jian He will be charged with possession and use of unlawful devices, possession and use of unlawful devices, criminal attempt theft by deception, conspiracy to commit theft by deception, criminal attempt access device fraud, and criminal conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

Police said on November 28 the two men entered the Giant store in the Cross Keys Place Shopping Center and placed outside gift cards onto the gift card rack.

An assistant store manager told police that she was alerted by a manager at another Giant store that the same two men were at their store doing the same thing. The manager immediately checked the gift card rack and removed 75 gift cards that had a value of at least $3180.

As part of the scam, thieves will discreetly take gift cards off the store rack, neatly open or slightly adjust the gift card package to reveal the card numbers and pin codes, copy the information, and then return the gift cards to the racks. When a victim purchases one of the compromised gift cards, activates it and adds value to the gift cards, the thief will then use the available funds.

When viewing store video surveillance, officers obtained clear pictures of the suspects entering the store. Additional video surveillance showed that the suspects were operating a silver Mitsubishi with California registration. "John Doe" warrants were obtained for the operator and passenger of the vehicle.

On Dec. 2 at approximately 6:29 p.m., officers from the West Goshen Police Department in Chester County received a License Plate Recognition hit on the California registration. When searching the area, the vehicle and its occupants were located in a shopping center parking lot. After Plumstead provided pictures, West Goshen officers identified the occupants of the vehicle as the Plumstead suspects.

The suspects, who were identified as Min He and Jian He, were taken into custody and arraigned on Fugitive of Justice warrants out of Plumstead. The men were committed to Chester County Prison and will be extradited to Bucks County on their outstanding warrants.