By Jesse SchecknerThe next time someone tampers with a gift card in Florida, they could be buying a felony. Starting Wednesday, Florida is cracking down on gift card fraud under a law that defines the crime in statute and establishes a schedule of penalties, the least of which is a first-degree misdemeanor carrying a potential jail sentence of up to one year. The new law defines gift card fraud as acquiring or retaining gift card information without permission, tampering with cards or packaging, or using stolen card data to obtain goods, services or money. Scams this year led to the arrest of three people in South Florida who ran a “gift card fraud ring,” two men who were caught in Naples with 176 gift cards valued at $15,000 and a pair of Chinese nationals who tampered with gift cards at 42 grocery stores across multiple counties. The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.