Man arrested after Target gift cards tampered with in California, shoppers warned

A man accused of tampering with gift cards at a Target store in California was arrested, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said.

Ningning Sun was arrested on Wednesday during the sheriff's weeklong Operation Bad Elf, which targeted retail theft throughout Sacramento County. Police found more than 5,000 gift cards from Target and Apple in Sun's possession, they said.

The cards were traced to 54 Target stores in 12 counties across the state, according to CBS News. Investigators believe that thousands of fraudulent gift cards could still be on racks in Targets across the state from Los Angeles to the Bay Area and the Central Valley.

It was unclear whether Sun had an attorney.

Suspect was caught 'acting suspiciously' near gift cards in Target store

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said that Sun was seen acting suspiciously near the gift cards in the payment aisles in a Sacramento Target store before his arrest.

"Detectives observed him placing all the gift cards on a rack inside his jacket, then replacing the gift cards with another set of seemingly identical ones," said the sheriff's office. Sun was confronted while trying to exit the store with the stolen gift cards.

The sheriff's office said that their investigation revealed that Sun was part of a gift card scam spanning across California and several other regions nationwide. The scam involves tampering scanning the bar code on gift cards and stealing the money loaded on them

"Victims are completely unaware it is happening, and the money is often siphoned to an off-shore account within seconds," said the sheriff's office.

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Shoppers warned over Target gift card scam

Authorities have issued a warning to those purchasing gift cards from retailers and have advised them to exercise caution while purchasing and observe any signs of tampering, such as scuff marks or scratches near the bar code on the back of the card.

"These operations are very sophisticated and modifications to the gift cards are often virtually undetectable, even to the trained eye," said the sheriff's office.

The sheriff's office has also suggested avoiding buying gift cards altogether.

Target responds to scam

Meanwhile, Target said in a statement that it is aware of the scams and takes them very seriously.

“We have signs in our stores and share general safety tips with our team members so they can stay alert and help guests as best as they can at our registers," the company told USA TODAY. "Our centralized cyber fraud team helps educate our team members about common scams and encourages them to look for guests purchasing high dollar amounts or large quantities of gift cards, or tampering with gift cards in stores."

The statement added that, "We appreciate law enforcement’s action on this case and will assist them with their investigation."

Target gift card scam: Investigation ongoing

An investigation into the scam is ongoing, and detectives suspect that Sun has carried out similar activities at other stores and are requesting the public’s help in the investigation.

Anyone with information on this is requested to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 916-874-5115 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-HELP (4357) or online via their websites. Tips leading to additional charges are eligible for a cash reward of up to $1000, and tipsters can remain anonymous. Tips are paid in cash, and no identities are asked.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.