Gift card fraudsters indicted

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts unsealed an indictment against two California men accused of a fraud scheme involving Subway restaurants and gift cards. The apparent fraudsters reportedly hacked into Subway POS systems to add at least $40,000 in value to Subway gift cards. The men then allegedly used the cards to make purchases at Subway outlets and also sold the cards online.

According to the indictment, 46-year-old Shahin Abdollahi and 35-year-old Jeffrey Thomas Wilkinson, of Lake Elsinore, Calif., and Rialto, Calif., respectively, conspired to remotely hack into the POS systems of at least 13 Subway locations beginning in approximately 2011. Abdollahi was a former Subway franchise owner in Southern California and later operated POS Doctor, which sold and installed POS systems for Subway franchises in the United States.

The alleged co-conspirators were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and wire fraud, and one count of wire fraud. If convicted of the fraud, the defendants could each reportedly face up to 20 years in prison, followed by up to three years of supervised release.

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