What to know about gift card draining scams in Texas and how to protect yourself

Two people were arrested in Plano this month in a gift card draining scam targeting multiple stores in North Texas. Police seized roughly 4,100 tampered gift cards for Apple, Sephora, Amazon and Footlocker, totaling nearly $650,000 in potential losses. Authorities said additional arrests are coming, and the scam extends beyond Texas. Advertisement Plano's forgery unit worked with the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to investigate and surveil stores around Dallas-Fort Worth, including H-E-B, Walmart, Tom Thumb-Albertsons, Walgreens and CVS. Advertisement Police spokeswoman Jennifer Chapman said officers observed two people placing such gift cards onto store shelves…