JACKSON – Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch is warning consumers about gift card scams following recent sentencings in a cyber fraud case tied to stolen card data and gift card re-encoding equipment.
Fitch said the Attorney General’s Cyber Fraud Task Force helped investigate the case involving Sean Matthew Langston and John Carleton Johnson Jr., who were found in possession of about 322 gift cards valued at more than $12,000, 17 re-encoded instruments containing stolen bank card data and two magstripe encoding devices.
“Our Cyber Fraud Task Force was pleased to help put these criminals in federal prison,” Fitch said in a statement. “Schemes like these undermine businesses and hurt hardworking Mississippians.”
The attorney general’s office said Langston was sentenced this month by U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson to 16 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of illegal possession, production or trafficking in device-making equipment.
Johnson was sentenced in November 2025 to 24 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to the attorney general’s office.
Authorities said the case was investigated by the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Secret Service through the Cyber Fraud Task Force, with help from the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and Jackson Police Department. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.
The attorney general’s office also shared several warnings about common gift card scams, including callers posing as law enforcement, utility companies, tech support workers or charities and asking for payment through gift cards. Officials also warned about sweepstakes, lottery and inheritance scams that demand up-front fees through gift cards.
Fitch’s office urged consumers never to use gift cards to pay debts or bills, to be suspicious of urgent payment demands and to verify claims independently using trusted contact information.
The attorney general’s office said anyone who believes they paid a scammer with a gift card should contact the card issuer immediately and report the incident to law enforcement.
Fraud, scams and deceptive business practices can be reported to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office through its consumer protection division.
