Attention Bay State residents: When you are out doing your grocery shopping, pay heed to your surroundings especially when using a credit or debit card when checking out.
Recently, Big Y installed credit card skimmer shields at their Great Barrington supermarket. The much-needed move was made after nearly a year of discovering financial fraud devices at multiple stores in the region. Illegal skimmers are tucked inside credit card readers or ATM machines as they can collect card information.
(Photo image of Cumby’s exterior courtesy of Getty Images)
Cumberland Farms locations in the Western Massachusetts region have also been beset with this ongoing problem. So what should consumers do to avoid being a victim of these ongoing scams.
To educate you further, “skimmers” are devices that are illegally installed over or inside card readers at places like convenience stores, fuel pumps and ATMs to steal information off the cards. Here are some ways to detect skimming devices:
(Photo image of gas pump skimmer courtesy of IPGGutenbergUKLtd)…