As if the constantly rising cost of food and other grocery items was not problem enough for consumers, they now need to maintain an extra level of caution when paying with a credit or debit card as card skimming appears to be on the rise.
Walmart stores in Amherst County in particular have recently been facing a card skimming epidemic.
Card skimming attacks at Walmart Amherst County
Shoppers at Walmart locations in the Amherst County region have fallen victim to a series of ongoing credit card scams. Multiple incidents of card skimming at the retailer have been reported to local law enforcement who has since been investigating the matter.
Officials have shared that the investigation uncovered several of the devices that had been used to enact this scam at various locations such as, Wards Road in Lynchburg , as well as Madison Heights. The Amherst County Sheriff’s office elaborated on how the crime is enacted by explaining that the scanner device is placed on top of the card reader or payment terminal and from this, the scanner steals the transaction data.
“These are individuals that come in from out of town, other states. They travel through cities and areas and install the devices and then leave and go on to another location,” said Lt. Greg Jones of the Sheriff’s office. “It’s kind of like popping a cover on top of the existing card reader.”
Customers are being urged to remain vigilant when making non-cash purchases by inspecting the payment terminals for signs of tampering prior to making any sort of payment. “You got to be really alert and pay attention to the card reader that you’re using, see if it’s been tampered with,” Jones reiterated.
What is law enforcement doing to aid this issue?
The Lynchburg Police Department, in collaboration with the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office and various other agencies, is working tirelessly to investigate the matter. It appears that more often than not, loss prevention partners are the ones who uncover these kinds of malicious devices.
“A lot of time our loss prevention partners are the ones who find these, and it’s because they are looking at the credit card readers and they might be a little discolored, they might be a little thicker, they might look a little bit different,” shared Katie Jennings, a crime prevention specialist with the Lynchburg Police Department.
“We also have citizens who find them,” she added.
Citizens are also being advised to compare card readers when at checkout and if any discrepancies are noted, they should immediately alert a nearby sales representative. “If you are at the checkout, kind of take a glance at some of the other card readers, and if yours looks a little different you can tell the sales associate, and you guys can work together and see if it’s something where something’s loose, something doesn’t feel right,” Jennings shared.
Authorities have suggested that an additional precaution customers can take is to opt for chip payments, or to utilize the tap to pay services offered on some cards and devices. Customers have also been warned that this issue is not necessarily limited to Walmart stores and since it is already so widespread, there is a possibility that card skimming devices can be found at other stores, gas stations, ATMs, and any other vendor who offers transactions via card payment.
ABC13 reached out to Walmart for a comment on this issue that is putting customers at risk to which the retailer responded with, “Walmart works hard to keep our customers safe from scammers and other criminals seeking to harm our customers. Walmart’s robust anti-fraud program has been effective at fighting fraud and continuously evolves to respond to the fraudsters’ ever-changing tactics.”