As victims, we are exhausted. Angry. Sick of it. Every holiday season it’s the same thing—another scam, another warning, another way criminals find to steal from us. Just when we think we’ve seen it all, we’re hit with yet another scheme designed to drain our money and ruin what should be a simple act of giving.
That’s exactly what happened with this so-called “new” gift card scam that the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center finally shut down. New to us, maybe—but clearly not new to the people stealing from victims for years. Authorities say this scam alone robbed people like us of $14 million. Fourteen million dollars taken from hardworking consumers who trusted what they bought off a store shelf.
Let’s be clear: this wasn’t a mistake or a misunderstanding. This was calculated theft.
Scammers walked into stores, stole empty gift cards, carefully cracked them open, stole the card numbers and activation codes, then sealed them back up like nothing ever happened. They put those cards right back on the racks, knowing full well that victims like us would buy them—often as gifts for family, friends, or loved ones.
The moment we loaded money onto those cards, they were already watching. Waiting. The instant the card activated, the money was gone. In some cases, the balance was drained before victims even made it back to their cars. We were left holding a useless piece of plastic while the thieves walked away with our money.
And don’t let anyone tell you this was “too much work” for criminals. These scammers knew exactly what they were doing. Investigators say they could steal 100 cards a day. One hundred chances a day to rip off unsuspecting victims. Multiply that by weeks, months, and years—and suddenly $14 million makes horrifying sense.
Authorities say three men—Kristians Petrovskis, Romualds Cubrevics, and Normunds Ulevicus—are now facing charges for this scheme. They’re currently locked up in the Dallas County Jail, where they belong. According to investigators, they admitted to stealing gift cards from store after store, every single day, seven days a week, starting in May 2025.
When they were caught, they had 400 stolen gift cards on them. Four hundred opportunities to steal from victims.
Law enforcement says this scam has spread across Dallas–Fort Worth, Central Texas, and the Gulf Coast. Once dominated by Chinese criminal groups, the scam has now been picked up and passed around by other networks, including Eastern Europeans. Criminals sharing playbooks, while victims pay the price.
And let’s not pretend this happens in isolation. Dallas is already drowning in porch piracy and theft. Now we have to worry that even something as basic as a gift card—a last-minute present from Grandma—might be worthless before it’s even opened.
So no, Grandma isn’t cheap. She didn’t mess up. The system did. And scammers exploited it.
For victims, this isn’t just about money. It’s about trust being shattered over and over again. It’s about being forced to stay constantly alert while criminals find new ways to steal without ever facing us directly. And it’s about how tired we are of cleaning up the mess left behind by people who don’t care who they hurt.