Surveillance video from Bronx store shows ease of installing credit card skimmers
MOUNT EDEN, The Bronx (WABC) -- Surveillance video from a store in the Bronx shows how quickly criminals can install credit card skimmer devices where customers pay.
The point-of-sale terminal is working normally again at Richard's Fruits and Vegetables in Mount Eden, but on Monday, the store reported to police that a skimmer was attached to their credit card reader.
"If you glance at it, it looks exactly like the other machines. The only thing that is different... there's two little edges that's sticking out a little bit. That's basically it, no one would honestly know," said store owner Richard Vidals.
Surveillance video, which has been turned over to police, shows one man standing by the terminal, looking around. His accomplice is seemingly shopping before coming close to provide cover.
The switch happens in seconds. A secondary device is attached to the actual reader.
The men left, and a short time later, a store cashier complained.
"The cards are getting stuck in the machine. So she told me, 'oh, get a new machine, they're probably too old, whatever.' And then I starting checking it," Vidals said.
Vidals tried swiping his card but was unable to. That's when workers discovered the device and pried it off.
The use of such skimmers is not new. They're typically found at ATMs and gas pumps. The purpose is to record information from the card's magnetic strip.
Tap payments and chips were introduced to make such thefts more difficult, but most electronic benefit cards still require users to swipe.
Richard's is a family-owned store that has operated in Mount Eden for nearly three decades.
Vidal's parents named the market after him when he was just a year old. He says customer trust is everything.
"We wouldn't do anything that would harm them or anyone else. It's a shock to see someone actually take that and steal other people's information," Vidal said.
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