2 Snohomish County sisters indicted in alleged $80,000 gift card fraud scheme

Two sisters in Snohomish County were indicted in an alleged gift card scheme that defrauded a retailer of more than $80,000.

Hayley Lundquist, a 30-year-old woman from Snohomish County, pleaded not guilty to a 16-count indictment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She was ordered detained pending trial, currently scheduled for Aug. 3.

Lundquist’s sister, Samantha Gillihan, a 34-year-old woman from Arlington, was arrested last month and pleaded not guilty to the indictment. She was released on her personal recognizance.

How gift card fraud scheme worked

The sisters allegedly used a sequencing scheme to load gift card numbers onto their phones — numbers for gift cards they never purchased that may have been purchased by others, according to the indictment.

The women would use the gift cards to buy merchandise, then return the items for cash or other value. Some of the merchandise was sold to others, the indictment stated.

In addition to the gift card scheme, the sisters would allegedly use stolen debit cards to buy merchandise.

“At times, they used fraudulently obtained debit cards, along with fraudulently obtained gift cards, to make purchases,” the attorney’s office stated.

Authorities said Lundquist had identity information belonging to numerous people in her possession at the time of her arrest.

Snohomish County woman faces additional charges

Each woman is charged with multiple counts of wire fraud, along with aggravated identity theft. Lundquist is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm because of her previous felony convictions in Snohomish County.

In 2019, Lundquist was convicted of three counts of possession of stolen property. In 2022, she was convicted of possession of a stolen vehicle and identity theft, according to the attorney’s office. Even though she was not allowed to possess firearms, authorities said law enforcement found two handguns in her bedroom, along with fraudulently obtained merchandise in 2024.

The attorney’s office noted wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory minimum two-year sentence to run consecutive to any other sentence imposed in the case.

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