A MOM has told how she had her card information stolen using a self-checkout machine at Walmart.
Sherry Sells, a SNAP EBT card holder, only found out her information had been stolen two weeks later when she was notified her card was canceled.
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A Walmart worker had discovered the card skimmer attached to one of the retailer’s self-checkout machines in Durant, Oklahoma, a city close to the Texas border.
“We thought it was a scam at first because the first text had the wrong number,” Sells told CBS affiliate KXII News.
The Oklahoma Department of Health sent a second text, this time with the correct number.
Alicia Gray, another EBT user encountered the same issue.
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“I called the DHS worker and she let me know that they their reissuing me a card, they said there was about 2,000 EBT cards in this area that has been comprised and cancelled,” she said.
EBT users will have to wait for their new cards to arrive before they can resume shopping for necessities.
Sells, a mother of three, is grateful she stocked up on essentials while she could.
Five other victims, who were all SNAP EBT card holders, have come forward to the police.
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Durant Sergeant Nick Spencer said SNAP EBT card holders weren’t targets, they just were card holders who swiped their cards rather than using a chip or tap to pay.
“That enables the suspects to duplicate their card and transfer the money to the new card that they’ve made,” Sgt. Spencer said.
Police are urging other victims of the scam to come forward.
Anyone who used the number six self-checkout register at the Durant Walmart should contact their bank to request a new card and PIN, including those who use EBT/Access cards.
There are several red flags you can look for to see if a checkout machine has been tampered with.
If the card reader does not seem securely attached and moves while you use it that should indicate caution.
Another warning sign could be an issue with the chip on your card when trying to pay because skimmers often block the real checkout machine from reading the chip, which creates an error message and forces the customers to swipe their card.
Another red flag is if your card gets stuck in the machine or is difficult to remove.
“As far as the keypad entry, you should run your fingers over that – kind of touch the buttons to make sure there’s no cellophane type or plastic type over that,” Deborah Mozal at One Community Federal Credit Union told WBRE, a CBS affiliate.
Walmart has been the target of several skimmer scams this year in Maine and upstate New York, The Sun has previously reported.
In July, 16 different Walmart stores across both states had skimmers installed over a period of four days.
Two men and a woman were seen on multiple surveillance cameras entering each of these locations and placing skimmers on self-checkouts, Syracuse ABC affiliate WSYR reported.
Some of the skimmer machines from the crime spree were not discovered for almost a week.
However, skimmers are not the only scam Walmart customers should be wary of.
A shopper at a Walmart in Denver, Colorado was the target of a new scam directed at customers using self-checkout where thieves pretend to drop money.
The thieves pretend the dropped cash belongs to the target and when the victim pulls out their wallet, the thieves use a sleight-of-hand trick to steal the victim’s credit cards.
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The thieves used the stolen credit card in the same Walmart and racked up almost $2,000 in charges.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment.
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https://www.the-sun.com/news/9624349/walmart-self-checkout-warning-new-scam/
