(KRON) -- Two people were arrested in Santa Rosa and police found 25,000 compromised gift cards. Police said Yongsheng Zhao, 29, of El Monte, and Zhipeng Li, 33 of Monterey Park, were responsible for "gift card draining" scams throughout California. The duo was also linked to an international criminal network, the Santa Rosa Police Department announced this week.

The scam was carried out by thieves who removed legitimate gift cards from retail displays in stores, recorded or altered the activation information, then resealed the gift card in the original packaging before returning them to the displays, according to SRPD. Unsuspecting victims purchase the tampered gift cards, only to have the funds drained moments after activation.

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