NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A man and woman were arrested after they allegedly scammed several CVS pharmacies on Staten Island for hundreds of gift cards, authorities said.
Xiaoxia Chen, 46, and her alleged accomplice, Yongdeng You, 44, both of Monterey Park, Calif., were arrested on Jan. 31 in connection with the scam, according to a criminal complaint.
Officials allegedly recovered nearly 400 gift cards valued at over $50,000 from the defendants at about noon in New Dorp.
Two skimmer devices, three cell phones, a laptop, gloves, tip swabs, glue, hair straighteners, rubbing alcohol, baby wipes and finger protectors from the defendants were also confiscated.
The complaint alleges that earlier in January, Chen and You altered gift cards and placed them on the racks "with the intent to defraud the customer" at CVS stores located at 2690 Hylan Blvd. in New Dorp, 2465 Richmond Ave. in New Springville, 1654 Richmond Ave. in Bulls Head, 4055 Hylan Blvd. and 4065 Amboy Road in Great Kills.
Chen and You then left the pharmacy locations without making any purchases, authorities said.
It is unclear whether Chen and You reside in California or had moved to the area and not yet changed their addresses.
Chen and You face charges including over 1,000 counts of forgery and possession of a forged instrument in addition to attempted grand larceny, scheme to defraud and unlawful possession of a skimmer device.