Two arrests in gift card scam

Home Depot cards stolen, sold

WELLAND — Two Welland women, including one previously sought by police in connection with a coat scam, have been arrested after allegedly running a gift card scam in Niagara Falls.

During two different incidents, on Dec. 16 and Dec. 17, two people were bilked of hundreds of dollars after responding to online advertisements on the classified website Kijiji.

The ads promoted Home Depot gift cards — worth $1,000 and $2,000 — being sold for half their value.

On both occasions, the victims agreed to meet the seller — a woman — in a parking lot in Niagara Falls to purchase the cards.

Upon arrival, the woman said she would call Home Depot to verify the value of the cards. She would dial a number on speaker phone and the person on the other end confirmed the cards were legitimate.

What the victims didn’t realize, police say, is that the voice on the other end belonged to another woman pretending to be a Home Depot employee.

The victims paid cash for the cards, $ 500 and $ 1,000 respectively, only to later learn the cards were blank and had been stolen from Home Depot, said NRP spokesman Const. Derek Watson.

“It’s not an uncommon scam,” said Det. Sgt. Paul Spiridi, head of the NRP’s fraud unit. “We see it all the time.” Spiridi encouraged people looking to purchase gift cards online to meet the seller at the store to verify the value.

“It’s buyer beware,” he said, particularly when using online classified sites.

“Most have fraud warnings and tell you how to protect yourself.”

On Dec. 23, police arrested Jodi Donovan, 33, of Welland, in relation to the gift card incidents. The co- accused in the case, 25-year-old Alexandra Holditch, of Welland, was arrested Dec. 24.

Holditch and Donovan are each charged with two counts of fraud under $ 5,000 and two counts of possession of property obtained by crime.

Holditch also faces additional charges stemming f rom an alleged scam run several times between Nov. 3 and Nov. 10 at a number of large department stores in Welland, Niagara Falls and St. Catharines.

Police say the scam involved using coats as a distraction to steal the purses of shoppers.

Holditch was arrested in connection with that on Nov. 21. She posted bail Dec. 11 — five days prior to the alleged first gift card incident.

The additional charges Holditch faces include one count of theft under $5,000, one count of fraud under $ 5,000, one count trafficking property obtained by crime and one count of possession of property obtained by crime.

Donovan is next scheduled to appear in St. Catharines court on Jan. 29 and Holditch on Feb. 12, both for charges to be spoken to.