Federal prosecutors have charged a central Wisconsin couple in a scheme to steal Kohl’s Cash from customers and resell the certificates on Twitter, netting tens of thousands of dollars in profit.

U.S. District Court prosecutors in the Eastern District of Wisconsin in late May charged Robert A. Gordon, 35, and Diana Gordon, 42, of Weston with identity theft, access device fraud and wire fraud. The case was recently unsealed.

Robert Gordon is a staff sergeant and active reserve member in the U.S. Army, according to a criminal complaint, and works at a recruiting station in Wausau. Diana Gordon is also an active reserve member of the Army.

According to the criminal complaint:

Robert Gordon ran a Twitter account, @OfficialJigLord, to sell the codes to redeem Kohl’s Cash certificates and other gift cards at a discounted rate. Gordon encouraged his customers to post photos of their Kohl’s purchases and receipts on Twitter, tagging him.

Kohl’s corporate team investigated Gordon’s account and found that the stolen, redeemed certificates matched those of certain customers who had complained that their Kohl’s Cash was used up but they hadn’t spent it.

The store reimbursed customers whose Kohl’s Cash was stolen, so the Menomonee Falls-based company lost money.

Kohl’s investigators found that Gordon used a bot whose purpose was to barrage the Kohl’s online account login page with thousands of possible usernames and passwords. Once a login was successful, the bot would pluck the Kohl’s Cash certificate from a person’s account.

Gordon sold the certificates at 50% of face value, communicating with customers via Twitter direct message. People paid him through money-transfer apps such as Zelle and Cash App.

He transferred $97,556 to his bank account from Zelle and Cash App between January and November 2018, bank documents show.

The complaint lists a number of customers from around the United States who contacted Kohl’s to complain that their Kohl’s Cash had been redeemed without their knowledge — values ranging from $20 to more than $100.

According to the complaint, Gordon regularly advertised his gets on Twitter — for Kohl’s Cash and other gift cards, including AMC Theaters, Ulta Beauty, Starbucks and Panera Bread Co. A review of his account shows the tweets stopped May 28, when the case was filed.

He gave customers directions for how to redeem the cards. In one tweet listed in the complaint, Gordon says he has $2,000 worth of Kohl’s Cash for sale but not to use more than $200 at a time. Some customers tweeted pictures of their receipts or orders, thanking Gordon.

“@OfficialJigLord thanks bro. Lots of candles,” one tweet in the complaint reads.

Kohl’s records show Gordon and his wife made 68 orders to buy items for themselves, too. Over 10 months, the couple used about 200 Kohl’s Cash certificates valued over $10,000 total.

In September 2018, Gordon posted a picture of a juicer and a blender on Twitter. Kohl’s records show he paid the $280 bill using Kohl’s Cash stolen from customers in Massachusetts, Mississippi, Florida and Illinois. A charge of about $30 came off Gordon’s credit card.

In 2016, a computer engineer in New Jersey was sentenced to prison after admitting he created a program to swipe Kohl’s Cash certificate numbers, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel previously reported.

In a statement, Kohl’s corporate team said it has invested in security programs and the fraud is not unique to Kohl’s. It encouraged customers to switch up usernames and passwords.

“From time to time we’ve been made aware of criminals using login credentials stolen from outside sources to access customer loyalty benefits. This can arise when customers reuse their login credentials across multiple websites,” the statement reads.

If convicted of all three charges, Robert and Diana Gordon face up to 55 years in prison.

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.