D.C. police have discovered up to six credit card skimmers at retailers across the District and continue to search for the suspects responsible.
Police released updated surveillance images of the suspects on Wednesday. The images show what appears to be two men wearing black. In some of the images, they wear sweatshirts, skinny jeans, white sneakers, white face masks and bucket, paperboy or baseball hats.
Since March 25, skimmers have been placed in stores located in Northwest, Northeast and Southeast D.C. Skimmers were found on 40th St. NW, Connecticut Ave. NW, Wisconsin Ave. NW, Corcoran St. NW, First St. NE and M St. SE.
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On April 11, a D.C. man came across a skimmer at self-checkout in the Safeway on Wisconsin Avenue NW in Georgetown. The most recent card skimmer was found at a 7-Eleven along Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park.
Skimmers are devices that are put over the keypad at checkouts for debit and credit cards. When customers swipe their cards and use the fake keypad, the skimmer stores their cards information.
The scammers then come back and download that information via Bluetooth. This gives them access to pin numbers, card numbers and other information.
While police try to track down the thieves here’s what to do to protect against being skimmed:
- Make sure the device doesn’t move.
- Compare the machine to the one next to it.
- Check the alignment of the card reader.
- Look inside of the card reader before using it.
Anyone who finds a skimmer or suspected one should call 911.
Anyone who may be a victim should notify their bank or credit card company immediately.
