San Leandro residents Amanda Mata, 20, and her boyfriend Lamar Cotton, 27, allegedly bilked Safeway out of $232,000 in an elaborate (and admittedly clever) scheme involving phony credit cards and Nordstrom gift card purchases. The two are being held in an Alameda County jail while being indicted by a federal grand jury in SF.

Using stolen credit card information, the couple created phony credit cards which Mata would use to purchase Nordstrom gift cards from Safeway stores across Northern California. Her boyfriend would then drive her to Nordstrom stores across the state, as well as in Oregon and Arizona, to use the gift cards to purchase various items. She would then take advantage of Nordstrom's liberal return policy to return many of the items for cash refunds, effectively laundering $52,000.