A Walmart delivery driver noticed dozens of packages addressed to different people arriving at the same Peoria, Arizona, home. Police say the report helped expose an online-shopping fraud operation involving approximately $1.4 million in merchandise and shipments bound for Vietnam.
Peoria police announced six arrests on October 22 following a two-month investigation. Detectives allege that Walmart.com purchases were made through compromised customer accounts and stolen credit and debit card information.
Instead of going to the customers whose accounts were used, merchandise was allegedly delivered to residential drop houses around metropolitan Phoenix, moved through local businesses and taken toward California for overseas shipping.
Searches recovered everyday consumer products alongside cash and gold bars. Six defendants are now identified in a shared Maricopa County Superior Court case, with felony fraud and theft-related offenses listed in the public court history.
A Delivery Driver Noticed Something Unusual
On August 22, a Walmart delivery driver contacted police after delivering between 30 and 50 packages bearing different recipients’ names to one address over just a few days. A customer separately reported unauthorized Walmart purchases after someone accessed their account, according to Arizona’s Family, which reviewed court paperwork and interviewed a Peoria police officer.
Officer William Kennedy told the station that the driver’s report was a key starting point. “Without that delivery driver, I don’t know if it would have come across our radar,” he said. Detectives began tracking purchases and delivery locations beyond the original Peoria property.
Thousands of Orders Went to Six Drop Houses
Investigators identified approximately 15,500 Walmart.com orders allegedly placed through hacked accounts and stolen payment information. Court paperwork described by Arizona’s Family said delivery addresses were changed to direct purchases away from legitimate account holders and evade fraud alerts.
Police linked 11,364 orders worth more than $768,000 to six drop houses in Mesa, Avondale, Glendale and Peoria. Arizona’s Family reported an overall investigative estimate of approximately $1.23 million, while Peoria police described roughly $1.4 million in fraudulently purchased goods in their October 22 announcement. These are different reported estimates of the alleged scheme, not amounts that should be added together.
Walmart identified $57,501 in chargeback losses associated with two victims, while JPMorgan Chase identified 203 customers with $8,821 in unauthorized purchases, according to the court-paperwork account. Those narrower figures describe identified transactions and do not establish additional losses on top of the broader estimates.
Boba Shops Became Stops on the Way to Vietnam
According to investigators, goods delivered to homes were moved through two boba shops, one in Peoria and another in Tolleson. The merchandise then traveled to California for shipment to Vietnam in cargo containers connected to U.S. Cargo Shipping LLC.
Investigators described a van and a U-Haul trailer used to move shipments between locations. Photographs released by Peoria police showed large quantities of everyday goods, including shampoo, lotion, Fixodent denture adhesive and M&M’s candy. The suspected purchases were online orders, rather than merchandise taken directly from store shelves.
Police Identified a Suspected Organizer Who Denied Involvement
Investigators identified Hoai Nguyen, 30, as the alleged organizer of an operation involving at least nine other people. Two people questioned by police reportedly said Nguyen recruited them to receive parcels under different names, keep track of deliveries and load goods for transport in exchange for a share of shipment values.
Nguyen denied participating in the fraud. According to Arizona’s Family’s account of investigators’ interviews, he said he was only an employee of U.S. Cargo Shipping LLC, whereas detectives believed he owned the business.
Six Defendants Are Named in One Maricopa County Court Case
Search warrants were executed across the Phoenix area with assistance from SWAT teams, Homeland Security Investigations and Walmart investigators. Ten people were detained and four were released. Investigators reported recovering approximately $25,000 in Walmart merchandise, $35,000 in cash and $45,000 in gold bars.
The Maricopa County court record names the six defendants as Hoai Nguyen, 30; Thien Huong Tran, 42; Uy Vu Phan, 55; Minh Ngoc Nguyen, 57; Hieu Xuan Le, 24; and Hailey Hang Nguyen, 26. The court lists them under case CR2026-140749, with separate defendant numbers.
For each defendant, the public case history lists fraudulent schemes and artifices under Arizona law and theft involving control of property known or believed to be stolen under the state’s theft statute. Both are listed as class 2 felonies. An initial booking record for Minh Ngoc Nguyen also lists additional allegations, including computer tampering and identity-related offenses; booking allegations and the offenses currently shown on the Superior Court docket are not identical.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office booking display for Minh Ngoc Nguyen records an October 21 arrest by Peoria police and booking early on October 22, with a $500,000 bond. FOX 10 Phoenix reported $500,000 cash-only bonds for the six defendants in its initial arrest coverage. The case remains at an early stage, with preliminary hearings scheduled and no convictions recorded in the court history reviewed.
How to Check Whether Someone Used Your Walmart Account
Customers who notice unfamiliar purchases, charges or delivery addresses should review their order history and payment information. Walmart’s guidance directs people who do not recognize a charge to use its official support chat and enter “Unauthorized Charges.” The retailer recommends resetting the account password, deleting saved payment information and changing reused passwords on other accounts.
Customers should also report unauthorized transactions directly to their bank or card issuer and ask whether a replacement card is needed. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advises prompt reporting because debit-card protections may depend on the timing. Keep order confirmations, account alerts, unfamiliar delivery details and records of any disputed charges.
