Couple sought in gift-card scheme
MIAMI - A CVS pharmacy in South Miami was the last establishment police say was targeted by a man and woman who purchased $1,000 gift cards, but scammed the cashier from the real amount.
"We want to stop these people, these are criminals that need to be taken off the streets," said Sergeant Fernando Bosch, P.I.O. for South Miami Police.
Surveillance video shows the couple walking into the store and then purchasing two $1,000 gift cards. Video shows the man pulling out $20 bills.
"The guy has the cashier to count the money out and lay it in front of the counter, once she counts it, he collects the money," said Bosch who urges to pay attention to the sequence of events.
"After the subject picks up the money with his left hand, his hand drops and is not visible to the clerk. He then uses his right hand to hand in the money to the cashier. It's a slight portion of the actual amount that the credit card was," underscored Bosch adding, "I'm sure this is something that they practiced… this might be a ring of individuals that are doing this."
It happened on Sunday evening at a CVS located at 6460 South Dixie Highway in South Miami. Police are saying this is not the first time the couple has done this.
"We're working with CVS, they've hit three stores in Miami-Dade County for approximately $18,000," said Bosch who also stated that investigators are looking into the possibility the subjects did the same thing in another county.
"We're asking the community for their help in identifying these individuals, if you've seen them… you know who they are call South Miami Police at 305-663-6301," said Sergeant Fernando Bosch.