A gift card scheme totaling $20,000 in losses has hit Duluth.
Police Captain Don Woodruff says criminals are altering pre-paid gift cards to access checking and savings accounts.
"When it gets swiped it’s not taking away from a gift card," Duluth Police Captain Don Woodruff told Channel 2 Action News. "It's taking away from your checking account or your savings account."
The victims all have been senior citizens whose Social Security checks were stolen, police said.
Surveillance cameras recorded Ramon McCullough, 27 of Tampa, Fla., visiting the Wal-Mart on Pleasant Hill Road four times in one day.
"The security there saw him moving from register to register," said Woodruff.
A warrant is out for McCullough’s arrest. He allegedly walked away with $4,500 in cash back and cash advances. Police think McCullough has used the cards for cash advances and purchases and once even to upgrade to a first-class seat on a flight from Atlanta to Tampa.
Cops have found victims in McCullough's home state of Florida, Pennsylvania and even as far away as Arizona. Police believe he has accomplices, using the altered cards to rob people who live all over the United States.