A former Amazon employee is accused of stealing $18,260 worth of Amazon gift cards over a period of less than a year, dividing the money into two accounts that were found to be empty.
The action of the 23‑year‑old Amanda Budurka, who worked in an Amazon office in West Pittston, was discovered by Martin Rakaczewski, the company's Loss Prevention Manager. Customer complaints began to accumulate when they saw that their gift cards were not being accepted by the system or were empty.
Burduka began her campaign around Christmas 2013, when she heard from a colleague that gift cards were untraceable. What she didn't realize, however, was that the cards were being issued from her own account, making her the prime suspect. Sheila Hamm, a security researcher at Amazon, alerted Martin Rakaczewski on February 23 after receiving numerous customer complaints.
During the investigation, it was discovered that the money from 315 Amazon gift cards that Burduka had opened. However, she immediately confessed to her actions and signed the relevant statement.
After checking the two accounts to which the money had been transferred, it was discovered that one of them had about $670 and the other less than $3. Burduka is out on a $5,000 bail and the preliminary hearing has been scheduled for March 25.
gift cards can be used to purchase products worldwide. The amount they can have is up to $2,000. The money does not have to be used all at once for a purchase and in case it is not enough, the company has provided other payment methods so that the customer can cover the above cost and complete their purchase.
