Dollar General shoppers must check accounts after stealth devices found at self-checkout – information stolen for 10 days

POLICE have revealed that Dollar General has become the latest store to be targeted by fraudsters after a card duplicating device was found in its self-service checkouts.

According to police, Deleware, a customer shopping at Dollar General in Georgetown, alerted the store to a skimmer after a fraudster stole hundreds of dollars from his account.

Shoppers were informed that a skimmer was found at a local Dollar General storeSource: WRDE-LD

Virginia Layfield was shocked when she heard about the skimmerSource: WRDE-LD

Authorities believe the skimmer had been in the store since June 15.

Skimmers are fraud tools that allow fraudsters to steal financial information without the buyer’s knowledge.

“The specific device used is often a realistic-looking card reader placed over a factory-installed card reader,” the FBI said.

“Customers insert their ATM card into the fake reader and their account information is downloaded and stored on a small connected laptop or cell phone, or sent wirelessly to criminals waiting nearby.”

Customers were shocked when they were notified that a skimmer had been found at their local Dollar General store.

“It’s terrible. I couldn’t believe it would actually happen and then you hear about it on the news. You know, from one day to the next, you don’t know what can happen in a small area like this,” buyer Virginia Layfield told local NBC affiliate WRDE-LD.

Since visiting the store, many people have reported finding fraudulent charges on their accounts.

One person told the station that $381 was charged to their EBT card.

Police are warning all people who visited the place to check their card details from now on.

“We want people to be vigilant if they have been to a Dollar General store and are using the register or ATM,” said Lt. Matthew Barlow of the Georgetown Police Department.

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“Make sure you check bank statements and things like that, credit card statements and things like that.

“If there are any charges that don’t look right, make sure your bank or credit card issuer knows about them so they can take care of it.

Although the authorities have not found the criminal responsible for the skimmers, they reveal that they are actively looking for the person responsible.

“We are contacting our FBI partners to see if we can do facial recognition and if this is part of a larger group,” said Lt. Matthew Barlow of the Georgetown Police Department.

What is a skimmer device?

A skimmer device is a fraud tool designed to steal sensitive information from credit or debit cards during a transaction.

Imagine a skimmer device as a sneaky thief who hides in ATMs or card machines.
Its purpose is to secretly steal your credit or debit card information when you use it for transactions.
These devices act like little spies that can copy your card details, including your card number and PIN, without you even realizing it.
Skimmers can be cleverly disguised to look like a regular card reader, making them difficult to detect.
Once they have your information, criminals can use it to create fake cards or buy things without your consent, causing a lot of hassle and stress.
It’s important to always be careful and check for anything unusual going on at card machines before using them to protect yourself from these sneaky devices.

“Often when we talk about frauds of this nature, wire fraud and things like that may be part of a larger organization, maybe it’s something that our partners, the FBI or the Secret Service, are already investigating, so we just want to be helpful on that front , of course, take care of our victims also here, locally.”

MORE SKIMERS

Skimmers appear in various stores across the country.

Last month, customers were informed that another Dollar General in Macungie, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles from Philadelphia, had been targeted.

Authorities released a photo of the man who placed the skimmer in the store in early May.

“The man successfully inserted the device into the machine and left the store. He drives a newer model of Honda Odyssey, registration unknown,” the Macungie Police Department wrote on its Facebook page.

The imposter was captured looking away from the camera, wearing a blue plaid shirt with a vest and a baseball cap.

Shoppers in the area were concerned about the skimmer, with some saying they had recently visited a Dollar General.

However, the police said they had seized the skimmer, so the fraudster could not use it.