Joshua Tuzzo was in the store in Bayonne this weekend buying school supplies when he noticed something odd about the credit card reader.
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"I noticed the key fob, where you press, the top left corner was peeled off a tiny bit, you wouldn't even notice it if you don't look for these type of things," Tuzzo said.
By looking at videos on YouTube, he recognized the card-stealing device or skimmer when trying to enter his pin.
"So I had to make a decision right then and there, either I'm going to pull this machine and break their property, or I'm right and it's a card skimmer, which I believed," Tuzzo said. "I gave it a tug and it came right off."
He says the store clerk stayed quiet and he held on to the device until police officers arrived. Customers of the store are thankful for Tuzzo's awareness.
"As a regular, ordinary human being, you wouldn't know how to detect a machine that's going to steal your information, unless you're someone that's savvy like that gentleman was who paid attention," said Bayonne resident Melissa Torres.
But many are upset over the possibility they could have had their bank information stolen.
"Nobody uses cash anymore really, so we use our cards," said store customer Tawanda Cooper. "We're not expecting something like that to happen, we're supposed to be protected."
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Police say they are investigating, but some customers are hesitant to use their ATM or credit cards in the store.
"Most of the time you think it's an outsider, but sometimes it can be an inside job," said store customer Marcos Villa.
Eyewitness News reached out to the owners of Dollar Tree, but they have not commented so far.
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